Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy: The Theoretical Basis and Practice Application of Group Intervention

In occupational therapy practice, well designed groups represent social and cultural contexts for occupational performance in everyday life.  Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy, the best-selling text for over 21 years by Marilyn B. Cole, has been updated to a Fourth Edition, offering strategies and learning tools to place clients in effective groups for enhanced therapeutic interventions.

 

Building on the original seven steps for learning group leadership, and keeping with the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, Second Edition this text examines group dynamics from a therapeutic and wellness perspective.  It reviews descriptions of how Occupational Therapy group leaders apply multiple levels of professional reasoning to maximize the therapeutic value of group interactions.  Recent examples and evidence are also included in this Fourth Edition to reflect the design and use of groups for evaluation and intervention within the newly evolving paradigm of occupational therapy. 

 

Features Inside the Fourth Edition:

·         Practice exercises and applications within groups, such as conflict resolution and social learning techniques

·         Overview of complexity theory and its application to groups

·         A format for designing groups for many specific settings and populations within OT practice (writing group protocols)

·         Six-session group laboratory exercise and format for students to learn and expand their cultural competence

·         Six-session group laboratory exercise for students entitled “Developing Your Professional Self” addressing the transition from student to practitioner

·         A structure for designing and leading wellness or therapeutic groups in the community as a service learning project for students

 

Beginning with a client-centered theoretical approach, the 7-step format provides guidelines for the adaptation of group structure and leadership according to different theoretical perspectives.  Section 2 provides reviews and applications of the most common occupation based theories including several new occupation based models and frames of reference for designing and leading groups for a wide range of populations. 

 

Instructors in educational settings can visit www.efacultylounge.com for additional material to be used for teaching in the classroom.

 

Newly added sections expand the application of leadership skills such as professional leadership, focus group leadership, and team leadership.  Current literature has been incorporated throughout, continuing the over 21 year tradition of education for all levels of occupational therapy students and professionals. 

Marilyn B. (Marli) Cole, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, is a Professor Emeritus of Occupational Therapy at Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, and an Occupational Therapy Consultant. After 25 years of teaching, she has now become a full-time writer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Connecticut, a graduate certificate in occupational therapy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Bridgeport. Also, she is licensed by the state of Connecticut to practice occupational therapy and is certified by the Center for Study of Sensory Integrative Dysfunction to administer the Southern California Sensory Integration Tests. She has more than 24 years of practice experience in mental health, pediatrics, and geriatrics. Places of employment include Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute in Philadelphia, and Middlesex Memorial Hospital, Lawrence and Memorial Hospitals, and Newington Children’s Hospital, all in Connecticut. While teaching, courses included psychiatric clinical media, group leadership, group dynamics, frames of reference, fieldwork I and II, psychopathology, sensorimotor integration, computer technology lab, evaluation, intervention, problem-based learning, research, and geriatrics. She has also served as a consultant for the West Haven VA Medical Center, the Portland Public Schools, Fairfield Hills Hospital, the Institute of Living, St. Joseph’s Manor, and Baldwin Senior Center, all in Connecticut. In conjunction with Quinnipiac University, she escorted groups of fieldwork students to clinical and community practice sites in England, Costa Rica, and Australia.    

In addition to three prior editions of Group Dynamics (1993, 1998, 2005), she has coauthored two books within the past 3 years: Applied Theories in OT (2008), with coauthor Roseanna Tufano of Quinnipiac University, and Social Participation in Occupational Contexts (2010), with coauthor Mary Donohue, retired professor from NYU. Her chapters for other texts include “A Preference for Activity” (1988), “Client Centered Groups” (2008), “Retirement, Volunteering, and End of Life Issues” in Meriano and Latella (2007) OT Interventions, “Theories of Aging” (2008), and “Occupational Theory Development and Organization” in Jacobs and Sladyk (2010) Occupational Therapy Essentials for Clinical Competence.    

Marli has presented papers and workshops at professional conferences on many different topics. She has delivered professional presentations to Yale psychiatric residents, the Connecticut Occupational Therapy Association, the New York State Occupational Therapy Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), the American Psychology Association (APA), the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), and the World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT).       

Recently, Marli has edited a special edition of the Occupational Therapy International Journal on OT in the Third Age, focusing on the transition to retirement and productive occupations of older adults worldwide. She and husband Marty are at home in Stratford, Connecticut, and Freeport, Bahamas.