Who Should Do This Course?

• Task group co-coordinators
• People involved in community capacity building
• Facilitators working in a wide range of therapeutic and mutual support groups
• Group facilitators in educations settings
• Individuals involved in community based groups
• Trainers and consultants who work at deeper levels with groups

Aim of this course

Effective group work requires a sound foundation of theoretical knowledge that informs about practice that can be applied easily. With complex and changing environments it is very important that the practice be informed in the best possible manner. Thus, focusing on this prime necessity our course aims to develop mature professionals who can practice the role of group facilitator more efficiently and have the ability to compare and evaluate different theories or models of groups and group processes.

Apart from this, the course also aims:

• To provide a better prospect for critical reflection of how theories may inform working practice
• To build up the suitable skills for facilitating / leading groups
• To enhance the aptitude to recognize organisational dynamics pertinent to groups
• To identify specific ethical considerations that need to be considered while working with or in groups
• To develop an awareness of ones own values and the potential impact they have on the interventions likely to be made
• To educate how to judge and mediate in cases in which group participants pose a threat to themselves or others

Our Learning Process

The major highlight of this Diploma Therapeutic Group Work course is the delight of learning together through experimental group work or assignments. A strong emphasis is placed on experiential group work throughout the programme, which in turn helps participants in learning the realities of group dynamics.

In experimental group work/ personal development training, there is no teacher like practice. There will be work in large and small groups, role-plays and socio-dramas. Group process will involve the stages that groups tend to go through. Each stage will have its own distinct insensible dynamics and members will have certain thoughts, feelings and behaviours characteristic to each stage. The only way of learning about through this process is by engaging with it in an experiential way.

Thus involving in a group work process actually help the participant experience the skills that need to be applied in group work and improve personal group management skills. The aim of our experimental group work processes it to deepen participants' capacity for self awareness and gain an insight of group dynamics.

Entry requirements for this course

Our selection criteria include the following considerations:

Personal Competencies:
An applicant must show commitment towards learning and to the subject. An applicant must show dedication to a process of further developing personal awareness which actually requires the skill to receive feedback and to self-critique performance. In addition, an applicant must undertake course requirements such as the class and assignments essentially.

Academic Qualification:
An applicant must have a proper English Language proficiency. He or she need to have adequate skills to read, write and express themselves verbally in English. Moreover, an applicant also needs to have the Leaving Certificate.

Application process

All applicants are required to attend an information day and must submit their filled in application form to qualify for interview. Applicants must carefully complete the application form which will be read by the Programme Director/Admission Tutor to ensure that the basic entry requirements have been met. At ATI training and Education every application is considered on an equal basis. Only after receiving a completed application form, potential students are interviewed. The interview process is designed to give each candidate the fullest possible consideration.

Theory Content

• Stages of Group Development
• Group Planning and Development
• Leadership in Groups
• Special Considerations for Working with Different Types of Groups
• Models of Group Facilitation
• Systems Theory and Groupwork
• Psychodynamic Theory and Group Work