A practical guide to improving the everyday practice of group work Establishing a general context and framework for the volumes included in the Group Work Practice Kit, What Is Group Work? presents an inclusive overview of group work in an easy-to-read format. Authors Robert K. Conyne and Leann T. Diederich: Define types of groups Connect with accreditation and/or specialty standards Demonstrate how best practices in group work and attention to diversity and multicultural issues can be used to guide practice Illustrate how key group processes (for example, group cohesion) can be used to mobilize effort Set the stage for translating available group work evidence into group leader practice What Is Group Work? is part of the Group Work Practice Kit: Improving the Everyday Practice of Group Work, a collection of nine books each authored by scholars in the specific field of group work. To promote a consistent reading experience, the books in the collection conform to editor Robert K. Conyne’s outline. Designed to provide practitioners, instructors, students, and trainees with concrete direction for improving group work, the series provides thorough coverage of the entire span of group work practice. This book is endorsed by the Association for Specialists in Group Work.

The third edition of Group Work in Schools is designed to prepare counselors in school settings to successfully implement task, psycho-educational, and counseling groups in public and private educational settings. The chapters of this book are written by experts in the counseling profession and cover foundational, systemic, and applied topics essential to training top-caliber school counselors. Providing state of practice information and case examples that help readers see how theory translates to practice in the field, additions to this newly updated third edition include discussion topics, activities, case examples, practitioner perspectives, and integrated CACREP (2024) standards and learning outcomes, as well as an overall update to reflect the most recent research and knowledge, including pandemic coverage and advances in technology. Updated comprehensively and thoughtfully and featuring a wide range of contributor perspectives, the much-anticipated third edition of this book is essential reading for school counselors-in-training.

Excellent social work education and training is vital for ensuring best practice, and it is important to understand the key approaches and methods in order to provide the best teaching and ensure effective learning. This volume provides an overview of social work education, including the background and current context. It covers the key debates surrounding social work education, such as the evaluation of social work education, the use of IT, research-mindedness, and the effectiveness of interdisciplinary education. The book also offers guidance on effective teaching and learning approaches tailored to the needs of social work educators, covering teaching within a higher education institution, on student practice placements, and in post-qualifying settings. This will be an indispensable text for educators and trainers in the field of social work.

Group work is a popular and widely used social work method. Focusing particularly on the central role of mutual aid in effective group work, this text presents the theoretical base, outlines core principles, and introduces the skills for translating those theories and principles into practice. A Mutual-Aid Model for Social Work with Groups will help readers to catalyze the strengths of group members such that they become better problem solvers in all areas of life from the playroom to the boardroom. Increased coverage of evaluation and evidence-based practice speaks to the field’s growing concern with monitoring process and assessing progress. The book also includes: worker-based obstacles to mutual aid, their impact, and their antidotes pre-group planning including new discussion on curriculum groups group building by prioritizing certain goals and norms in the new group the significance of time and place on mutual aid and the role of the group worker maintaining mutual aid during so-called individual problem solving an expanded discussion of anti-oppression and anti-oppressive practice unlocking a group’s potential to make difference and conflict useful special considerations in working with time-limited, open-ended, and very large groups. Case examples are used throughout to help bridge the gap between theory and practice, and exercises for class or field, help learners to immediately apply conceptual material to their practice. All resources required to carry out the exercises are contained in over 20 appendices at the end of the book. Key points at the end of each chapter recap the major concepts presented, and a roster of recommended reading for each chapter points the reader to further resources on each topic. Designed to support ethical and successful practice, this textbook is an essential addition to the library of any social work student or human service practitioner working with groups.