Sexual assault is a traumatizing experience that often causes psychological problems to the victims. The survivors of sexual assault require emotional and physical support to help them overcome the traumatizing experience. Sexual assault groups have a critical role to support and assist the victims to recover from the emotional and psychological issues caused by the assault.
As a facilitator, it is essential to have a flexible plan that will ensure that the needs of the group members are addressed. This is achieved by adequate preparation before every session. After the first session, the following plan would be suitable to ensure that members benefit from the meeting.
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First, it is imperative to understand the objectives of the group. The initial session helped to create rapport among the members, and the ground rules were set. I will, therefore, introduce the members once again in the second session. Subsequently, I will review the objectives of the group. This includes;
Allow members to share their experiences thus helping them understand that they are not alone.
Help the members understand the impact of the experience in their lives.
Assist the members to process the feelings associated with the experience hence ease the emotional and psychological impact of the trauma.
After the belief review of the group objectives, I would also remind the members of the essential group rules that they made in the first session to ensure a safe and therapeutic environment is maintained.
Once the session has begun, I will encourage the group members to bring up discussion topics that are important to them. The topics may include but not limited to: how to respond to the trauma, how to manage unbearable emotions, how to disclose the experience to family members or friends and how to build trust in relationships. As the members come up with these topics, I will note them down in a book to ensure that they are all addressed at the end of the sessions. At this point, encouraging the members to share how they have dealt with each of the raised topics would be critical. As the members share their experiences in handling the situations, other members would feel encouraged to speak up and let out their emotions.
Open communication is essential for a productive group session. The first few group meetings are often challenging for most individuals. It is therefore critical to ensure that open discussion is encouraged among the members to inspire them to share their experiences. For instance, for those members who are not comfortable to share their experiences yet they wish to contribute, they can do so anonymously by requesting the facilitator to air their concerns in the meeting. The members will then provide their views on the issues raised, and since the member is in the group, they will benefit. A friendly and sympathetic environment should be maintained by both the facilitator and the group members to ensure that communication is encouraged without fear of victimization.
The session will end with a summary of the group discussions from the facilitator. I will have listened to various concerns raised by the members and how they have dealt with the emotional and psychological aspects of the trauma. I will then summarize the main points derived from how various members have dealt with the issue and make a professional summary of the issues. I will then encourage the members to attend the next session to get more insight on the subject.
As a group leader, it is my role to ensure that a therapeutic environment is maintained throughout the session. Also, I will ensure that I show sympathy to the members and offer a professional opinion at the end of the meeting after allowing the members to air their concerns. My primary role is to ensure that the group objectives are achieved and that each member benefits from the sessions.
