Post Group Facilitation Reflection #2

Group Topic: Financial Management

Today I lead a group on the topic of financial management. The group lasted 50 minutes and consisted of a warm-up activity ot check in on participants, 3 activities, reflection, and discussion. For me, the most meaningful element was how honest the group members were when talking about their finances. Previously, I thought people would be too embarrassed or uncomfortable to talk about finances and budgeting. This is probably because I have never openly discussed the topic with others. This is similar to openly discussing your weight because they always say you should never ask someone how much they weigh. Having experienced leading this group I now see that if you go about it the right way it is ok to talk about finances. This makes me feel confident that I created a comfortable space for group members to share. Going forward, I will try to always create an environment where others feel comfortable to share and express their feelings.

Going through the leadership evaluation form, I believe I hit the majority of the points. I was able to follow my protocol and evoke great discussion from group members. For the introduction, I clearly stated the purpose and what I expected from the group members. I then described what would be taking place throughout the session so group members could be prepared. The three activities ran smoothly and all group members seemed to understand the directions and sample given. When it came to sharing, the group members were very active in answering all of my questions. I even ran out of time to ask some of the questions I had planned on because group members had such thorough responses. The questions asked allowed all group members to process and express their feelings. Since the group consisted of all graduate students I was able to generalize common themes. The group stayed motivated from start to finish, actively participating in all parts. The group was well-behaved and did not require me to set any limits. All group members spoke for relatively equal amounts of time. For application, I was able to provide the group with tools they can use in their everyday lives. Each group member also stated a goal for themselves going forward. I was able to wrap the group up with a summary of what we learned and discussed, as well as thanking all members for participating.