09 Jan Submit a 2-page paper covering the following sections of your Treatment Group Proposal:? Composition & Contract: Criteria for inclusion/exclusion, size

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How to Start a Group Session

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How to Start a Group Session

Starting the Group Session

"Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our group session today. I’m Zuleika Rosa, and I’ll be facilitating this group. I want to start by saying that this is a safe and supportive space where we’ll work together to share, learn, and grow. Whether you’re here voluntarily or not, I encourage you to participate at a level that feels comfortable for you. This group is about understanding and supporting each other, so let’s begin with an activity to help us get to know each other a little better.”

Icebreaker Activity: "Connection Web"

Instructions:

Provide the group with a ball of yarn.

Begin by holding the yarn and sharing your name and one thing you enjoy doing.

Toss the ball to another member while holding onto a part of the yarn strand, keeping the thread taut (Mishra 2024).

Each member does the same: sharing their name and something they enjoy, then tossing the ball to another person.

By the end, the group will have created a "web" of connections.

Purpose: This activity visually demonstrates the connections forming within the group and encourages members to focus on shared experiences or interests.

Using Motivational Interviewing to Build Cohesion and Engagement

1. Open-Ended Questions: While the yarn is being passed, I would ask follow-up questions like, "What’s one reason you enjoy this activity?" or "Can anyone else relate to this interest?" (Gero et al., 2023).

2. Reflective Listening: If a participant expresses resistance, I might say, “It sounds like you’re not sure how this group can help right now. That’s completely valid, and we’ll work on understanding how it might.”

3. Affirmations: Highlight and validate contributions, such as, “Thank you for sharing that. It’s great to see these common threads forming in our group.”

4. Eliciting Engagement: For reluctant members, I might say, “If you’re comfortable, I’d love to hear a little about what you enjoy. If not now, maybe later in the session.” (Yarmand et al., 2021).

This approach ensures everyone feels valued, fostering trust and encouraging participation. The activity's interactive and non-threatening nature makes it accessible for all members, including those who may initially be resistant.

References

Mishra, S. P. (2024).  Design and Structure of Textile Fabrics. CRC Press.

Yarmand, M., Solyst, J., Klemmer, S., & Weibel, N. (2021, May). “It feels like I am talking into a void”: Understanding interaction gaps in synchronous online classrooms. In  Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-9).

Gero, K. I., Long, T., & Chilton, L. B. (2023, April). Social dynamics of AI support in creative writing. In  Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-15).