Special People Make Special Communities
i-Mobility Group Facilitation™ as a practice, is the professional function of a person who facilitates group processes mobile anytime, mobile anywhere. The person's most important role is the ability to establish solid relationships with group members in a mobile environment.
Today, more than ever before helping professionals must take a multicultural perspective on group work. Every person brings his or her values, qualities and life experiences to the group. Your unique approach must encompass a set of tools to adequately serve and facilitate the differences of others. The need for a multicultural approach is amplified when using mobile environments that extend your service around the world.
If you struggle in a particular area you are likely to impose these character traits on another. It is incredibly important to have a high level of self awareness with the willingness to forego continous self reflection.
i-Mobile Group Facilitation™ training address the challenges that YOU or your team may experience. If it is your desire to inspire others through the process you are in the right place for practical experience.
What can you expect to learn as a trainee?
The facilitator as a person is significant to the group success or failure. Research suggests 16 personal characteristics of the leader personality that are deemed important to successful group facilitation.
Courage
The willingness to be vulnerable at times, admitting mistakes and imperfections and taking the same risks you expect group members to take; b) to confront others but to stay present with them as you work out conflicts; c) to act on your beliefs and hunches; d) to be emtoinally affected by others and to draw on your experiences to identify with them; e) to examine your life; and f) to be direct and honest with members in a caring and respectful way.
Willingness to Model
One of the best ways to teach desired behaviors is by modeling them in the group. Through your behaviors and the attitudes conveyed by them, you can create group norms such as openness, seriousness of purpose, acceptance of others, respect for a diversity of values, and the desirability of taking risks. Remember that you teach largely by example--by doing what you expect members to do.
Presence
The ability to be present with group membes is extremely important. Presence involves being affected by others' pain, struggles, and joys. The facilitators' responsibility is to not become overwhelmed by a members' pain. Be fully attentive to what is going on in the moment.
Goodwill, Genuiness, and Caring
A sincere interest in the welfare of others. Your primary role is to meet members where they are and help them get what they came to group for. This caring involves trustworthiness, respect and valuing the life of others.
Belief in the Group Process
You must believe in what you are doing and trust in the process. We are convinced that our enthusiasm and convictions are powerful both in attracting a clientele and in providing an incentive to work.
Openness
Reveal enough of yourself to give the participants a sense of who you are as a person. Not every aspect of your life. Openness can enhance the group process if you appropriately reveal your reactions to the members and to how you are being affected by them.
Nondefensiveness in Coping with Criticism
Many of the challenges that facilitators face in the group process will require a tough skin. You may be accused of not caring; being selective in your caring; structuring sessions to much; or not providing enough direction. Some may be fair assumptions and others may not be fair. Nondefensively explore with the group the feelings behind the criticism.
Becoming Aware of Subtle Culture Issues
As much as you would like to view yourself as open and nonjudgemental, it is impossible to be raised in a in a society of -isms and not hold a degree of prejudice of misinformation about people who differ from you.
Being Able to Identify with the Consumer's Pain
It is unrealistic for us to expect that we have experinced the same problems as all of our clients, but the emotions people express are common to all of us. We all experience psychological pain, even though the causes of this pain may be different.
Personal Power
Personal power does not entail domination of members or manipulation of them toward the leader's end. Rather, it is the dynamic and vital characteristic of leaders who know who they are and what they want.
Stamina
Group leading can be taxing and draining as well as exciting and energizing. You need physical and psychological stamina and the ability to withstand pressure to remain vitalized throughout the course of a group.
Commitment to Self Care
Self care is not a luxury, it is an ethical mandate. If we hope to maintain our stamina, we need to take care of ourselves. Those of us in the helping professions have been socialized to thin of others, and we often have difficulty recognizing our own needs and taking care of ourselves.
Self Awareness
A central characteristic for any therapeutic person is an awareness of self, includig one's identity, cultural perspective, power and priviege, goals, motivations, needs, limitations, strengths, values, feelings, and problems.
Sense of Humor
Everything we say and do has the power to heal or hurt. Therefore, we must remember that using spontaneous wit makes us more real to memeber of our groups and results in members being less intimidated by the power differential... just proceed with caution.
Inventiveness
The capacity to be spontaneous and to approach each group with fresh ideas is a most important characteristic. Freshness is difficult if you lead groups frequently. Facilitators must discover new ways of approaching a group by inventing experiments that emerge from here-and-now interactions.
Personnel Dedication and Commitment
Facilitators must always be willing to learn and never arrive to a place of being all knowing. Being a facilitator who makes a difference involves having ideals that provide meaning and direction in your life.
Increasing your knowledge of your own cultural values and assumptions will help you function at optimal levels with diverse clients.
