Do You Take Responsibility for Your Group?

Описание: In this episode, Louise Fouché unpacks one of the easiest facilitation traps to fall into: subtly taking responsibility for the group. When the facilitator rescues, fills the silence, or “solves” for the members (especially in the first few sessions), the group learns to hand ownership back to the therapist—making independence impossible. Instead, Louise shows how to step back, hold the process, and deliberately hand responsibility to the group so members can build decision-making, ownership, and follow-through beyond the session.

🧠 Key ideas you’ll learn:
Why groups naturally prefer to give responsibility away—and how facilitators can unintentionally reinforce that pattern
How the first 2–3 sessions set a precedent the group will keep returning to
The difference between facilitating process vs. taking ownership of the group’s work
Why a group that doesn’t take responsibility won’t become independent (the real goal)

🛠️ Try this in your next group:
Hand it back early: Ask members to decide the norms, a starting question, or a simple group decision—and don’t rush to rescue if it’s quiet.
Hold the silence: Treat silence as work time, not a problem to fix.
Reflect, don’t rescue: If the group gets stuck, name the process: “It seems this is difficult for the group right now.”
Shift your language: Move from “our group” to “your group”—reinforcing ownership (and even using the group name repeatedly).

📚 References & resources
OTGrow’s Interactive Group Model (IGM) (browse the channel playlists for facilitation frameworks and skills)
Group facilitation essentials: boundaries, norms, process reflections, and “here-and-now” practice tools

👥 Who this is for
Occupational therapists, psychologists, counselors, coaches, and group facilitators who want evidence-informed, practice-ready strategies to build group responsibility, cohesion, and independence.

🙌 If this helped
👍 Like the video
💬 Comment: Where do you notice yourself “rescuing” your group—and what happens when you step back?

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