ABSTRACT
In this chapter the authors introduce the context for writing this book. This book focuses solely on group practice using the Facilitated Wave Model as a guide. This book is not an “activity book.” Instead, it lays out a model to help practitioners understand how to choose and facilitate effective activities for diverse populations and clinical needs. The Facilitated Wave Model guides practitioners in assessing participants, planning and choosing activities, shaping the ongoing environment of an experience, and guiding that experience to meet the goals of the participants. In addition, the impacts of trauma, oppression, and other experiences within our clients’ environments must always be given as much attention as other factors and guide practice. While this book introduces the Facilitated Wave Model in a chronological order of steps practitioners engage in when doing group therapy, the authors note that, in real life and in real groups, experiences do not always flow in a linear fashion and similarly practitioners are often called upon to engage in a variety of skills at any one moment that are highlighted in any part of the model.
