ABSTRACT
Central to any group’s success and effectiveness is the affective component that includes the building of the therapeutic alliance and the establishment of trust and safety and these are critical for psychoeducational groups. A large contributor to the necessary and helpful conditions is the group leader’s personal growth and development.
Facilitation of psychoeducational groups is enhanced by the expertise of the group leader to intervene at the most appropriate time and to do so to promote the affective learning and understanding for group members. Chapter 5 emphasizes a rationale for the leader’s self-development, the need to identify and reduce their self-absorbed behaviors and attitudes so as to be more emotionally present and provide empathic responses in the group session, a description for effective leader characteristics and attributes, and a procedure for becoming mindful.
