Facilitator Guide 2: Group Guidelines
Use the Group Guidelines When:
- One of the Group Guidelines is broken, such as:
- A group member (or the group) goes on and on or can’t stay in the present
- Someone is disrespectful or not empathetic (including side remarks)
- Someone breaches confidentiality
Why the Group Guidelines Are Important:
- Helps manage time keeping, procedures and supports group safety
Steps
- Silently choose the Group Guideline that applies to the situation.
- Intervene gently, using a strategy to direct the person or group to the Group Guidelines.
Direct: “Let’s make sure we keep what we discuss here confidential.”
Understand: “It can be hard to understand another person’s response to this topic, but the Group Guidelines ask us to empathize with each other’s situations.”
Cardinal Rules
- Don’t scold; keep it light
- Always model respect for the person being disrespectful
- Remember, it’s normal for people to forget rules in groups
- Refer to the charts/handouts; blame the Group Guidelines!
- Move the group to the Group Guidelines and then back to positive group work
- Be prepared to move on to someone else or go back to the topic at hand