Individual Group Facilitation

The purpose of the group that I led was to facilitate thinking and preparation for taking on the caregiver role in the future. I encouraged my group to think of ways to promote self-care once they step into the role of caregiver with their parents or in-laws.
For the introduction, I explained the purpose of the group and the time frame that we would follow. I chose a warm-up activity that was very light and related to the "sandwich" generation. This was fun and lighthearted, and I encouraged each person to share their individual qualities that the sandwich quiz revealed about them.
For the main activity, I had a bundle of popsicle sticks that each signified a different caregiver burden that many caregivers face. I encouraged each group member to pick at least two burdens out of the stack that they could think of a way to adapt or delegate so that burden was no longer so taxing. It was very interesting to hear about the different resources that people in my group were able to come up with.
Each member of the group shared a very deep and personal story and allowed the other members in the group to find common ground in the way that their family members cared for others. It was very interesting to recognize themes of caregivers providing too much help or not allowing themselves enough personal time to participate in self-care activities.
Through processing, each member was able to identify the negative aspect of caregiving and how they might incorporate more self-care when they are able to in the future.
By generalizing, each group member was able to identify at least two self-care activities that they plan to keep in the future once they take on the caregiving role.
I feel as though group motivation was very high because there were many personal stories that were shared with families either doing too much or not enough for their loved ones as they age. It was very interesting to hear from group members about how they might change their caregiving styles in the future.
Limit setting was very difficult in this group because I know that each member shared a very deep and personal story and I did not want to interrupt them from sharing their life experiences. I know that I need to find a balance between leaving the floor completely open and cutting off people too early. Many great stories were shared in our group time.
As I was summarizing the group session, I did my best to apply the knowledge that we learned to real-life scenarios. Although this was a very heavy topic, I am confident that each group members learned how they could delegate at least one caregiver burden once they take on that role.