Pre-screen Group Members

Support groups are beneficial in offering participants education and support. Participants attending the session also receive the benefit of being surrounded by others with similar experiences and those who will allow them to do the work of grieving and mourning without judgement. An unexpected bonus is that often the members forge close friendships and build a strong sense of community.

When starting a support group, the decision has to be made on the format. Is this a self-help group (e.g. Compassionate Friends)? Is it a therapy group? The self-help group are generally led by individuals who have also been bereaved, but who have worked through the process of mourning. Therapy groups are led by professionals (i.e. therapist).

It is the responsibility of the group facilitator to develop a positive group experience for the participants. Therefore, an important yet often overlooked step is to pre-screen members. Not every person is a good fit for the group. When interviewing a participant for the first-time there may be obvious indicators that they person would benefit from individual counselling rather than a support group setting. On the other hand, especially if the facilitator is a lay person, you may miss something and find out after they join the group that this isn’t the right fit. It happens ~ facilitators are human.

Some things to consider when meeting with a potential member to determine if they are a good fit are:

• Are they ready? If the person has recently lost a loved one (less than 6 months) they may not be ready or able to benefit from a group setting.
• Are they exhibiting / indicating other issues that need to be addressed elsewhere (e.g. drug and alcohol dependency)
• Do they demonstrate the capacity for self-care? (eating, sleeping, clean)
• Are they filled with rage or anger?
• Are they expressing suicidal thoughts or a desire to physically harm themselves or others? If so, this is beyond your scope. It’s important to know when to refer individuals to other programs.

Should the person pass the pre-screening, then move on to discuss the expectations of the group and find out what the potential member expects. Explain that the group will have ground rules they develop and a discussion about expectations, but in general as a facilitator here are yours:

• Commitment to attend sessions and to be on time
• Respect guidelines as discussed by the group (e.g. no interrupting when someone else is speaking)
• Refrain from giving advice or solutions (what worked for you may not work for someone else). Participants may be asked to give feedback.
• Respect that others may be in a different place than you are in the journey of recovery (e.g. you may no longer have anger, but another may be struggling to move beyond this stage). It doesn’t mean they are not doing the work – it means they are at a different place than you are.
• May be given homework or an assignment to work on between sessions
• May be given a task (e.g. make coffee, be a buddy to someone in the group)
• Must refrain from disruptive/ abusive language and behaviours
• Be respectful when speaking with others

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