Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy: The Theoretical Basis and Practice Application of Group Intervention / Edition 5

by Marilyn B. Cole

Overview

In occupational therapy practice, well designed groups represent social and cultural contexts for occupational performance in everyday life.  Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy: The Theoretical Basis and Practice Application of Group Intervention, the best-selling text for over 25 years by Marilyn B. Cole, has been updated to a Fifth Edition, offering strategies and learning tools to place clients in effective groups for enhanced therapeutic interventions.
 
Updated to meet the AOTA’s Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, Third Edition, this Fifth Edition provides guidelines for occupational therapy group design and leadership and guides application of theory-based groups.
 
The theory section clarifies how occupation based models and frames of reference change the way occupational therapy groups are organized and how theory impacts the selection of group activities, goals, and outcomes. Recent examples and evidence are added in this Fifth Edition to reflect the design and use of groups for evaluation and intervention within the newly evolving paradigm of occupational therapy. 
 
The third section focuses on the design of group protocols and outlines a series of group experiences for students. These are intended to provide both personal and professional growth, as well as a format for practice in group leadership, self-reflection, cultural competence, and community service learning. A new chapter focusing on the recovery model and trauma-informed care suggests ways for occupational therapists to design group interventions within these broadly defined approaches.
 
Cole’s 7-step format for occupational therapy group leadership provides a concrete, user-friendly learning experience for students to design and lead theory based groups. The settings for which students can design group interventions has been updated to include current and emerging practice settings.
 
Included with the text are online supplemental materials for faculty use in the classroom.
 
With a client-centered theoretical approach, Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy: The Theoretical Basis and Practice Application of Group Intervention, Fifth Edition continues a 25-year tradition of education for occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant students and clinicians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630913670
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/15/2017
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 11.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Marilyn B. (Marli) Cole, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, is a Professor Emeritus of Occupational Therapy at Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, and an occupational therapy consultant. After 25 years of teaching she has now become a full-time writer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Connecticut, a graduate certificate in occupational therapy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from the University of Bridgeport. Also, she is licensed by the state of Connecticut to practice occupational therapy and is certified by the Center for Study of Sensory Integrative Dysfunction to administer the Southern California Sensory Integration Tests. The author has more than 24 years of practice experience in mental health, pediatrics, and geriatrics. Places of work include Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Middlesex Memorial Hospital in Middletown, Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London, and Newington Children’s Hospital, all in Connecticut. While teaching, courses included psychiatric clinical media, group leadership, group dynamics, frames of reference, fieldwork I and II, psychopathology, sensorimotor integration, computer technology lab, evaluation, intervention, problem-based learning, research, and geriatrics. She has also served as consultant for the West Haven VA Medical Center, the Portland Public Schools, Fairfield Hills Hospital, the Institute of Living, St. Joseph’s Manor, and Baldwin Senior Center, all in Connecticut. In conjunction with Quinnipiac University, she escorted groups of fieldwork students to clinical and community practice sites in England, Costa Rica, and Australia. In addition to four prior editions of Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy: The Theoretical Basis and Practice Application of Group Intervention (1993, 1998, 2005, 2012), Marli has coauthored three books within the past 10 years: Applied Theories in Occupational Therapy: A Practical Approach (2008), with coauthor Roseanna Tufano of Quinnipiac University; Social Participation in Occupational Contexts: In Schools, Clinics and Communities (2011), with coauthor Mary Donohue, retired professor from New York University; and Productive Aging: An Occupational Perspective (2015), with coauthor Karen Macdonald. A coedited book with Jennifer Creek, an occupational therapy researcher and writer from York, England, entitled Global Perspectives in Professional Reasoning, was published by SLACK Incorporated in 2016. Her chapters for other texts include “A Preference for Activity” in Gibson’s Group Process and Structure (1988); “Client-Centered Groups” in Creek and Lougher’s Occupational Therapy in Mental Health (2008, 2015); “Retirement, Volunteering, and End of Life Issues” in Meriano and Latella’s Occupational Therapy Interventions (2007, 2016); “Theories of Aging” in Coppola, Elliott, and Toto’s Strategies to Advance Gerontology Excellence (2008); and “Theory Development” in Jacobs and MacRae’s Occupational Therapy Essentials for Clinical Competence, Third Edition (2017). Marli is currently working on a grant to study self-management for lower back pain, and has enjoyed presenting results of her productive aging study with coauthor Karen Macdonald. She and her husband, Marty, love sailing, snorkeling, and traveling, especially cruises. They are at home in Stratford, Connecticut, and Freeport, Bahamas.
 

Table of Contents

About the Author, Introduction to the Sixth Edition, Section I: Acquiring Group Skills, 1 Group Leadership: Cole’s Seven Steps, 2 Understanding Group Dynamics, 3 Client-Centered Groups, 4 Groups in the context of DEI and the OT Framework 4^th Ed. Section II: Group Guidelines from OT Models & Frames of Reference, Chapter 5: Psychodynamic Approaches 6: The Behavioral-Cognitive Continuum, 7: Allen’s Cognitive Disabilities Groups, 8: Developmental Approaches, 9: Sensory Motor Approaches, 10: A Model of Human Occupation & Other Occupation-Based Models, Section III: Planning an Occupational Therapy Group, 11: Writing a Group Protocol and the Quinnipiac Model, 12: An Introductory Laboratory Experience for Students Group Protocol: Developing Your Professional Self, 13: A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Group Experience Group Protocol: Seeing Myself: My Uniqueness in the Contest of my Culture., 14: Community Groups: Service-Learning Experiences for Students, 15: Wellness, Recovery and Trauma Informed Care

 

Appendix A: The Task-Oriented Group as a Context for Treatment

Appendix B: The Concept and Use of Developmental Groups

Appendix C: Summary of the AOTA Ethical Code

Appendix D: Excerpts from the OT Practice Framework, 4^th Ed.

Appendix E: Comparison of Group Leadership Guidelines in OT Models & Frames of Reference 

Appendix F: Overview of International Classification of Function (ICF)      

Editorial Reviews

The best aspect of the book is its descriptive application of group dynamic specifically applied to the five various models of practice. To read through the fifth edition is comforting, and the sections about wellness, recovery, and trauma-informed care are delightful, welcome, necessary additions.”

- Janice D Hinds, MS, OTR/L, BCMH, Doody's Book Review Service

From the Publisher

Reviewer: Janice D Hinds, MS, OTR/L, BCMH (Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan)
Description: This is an overview of group dynamics, including descriptions of frames of reference and models of practice, along with leadership styles, occupational therapy language, and procedural aspects for designing therapeutic groups. Aspects are combined and then partnered with selected models of practice, resulting in therapeutic application. The book uses a heuristic to meld models with group structures and suggests several group interventions for each model along with procedural handouts and/or instructions for group leaders. The experiential seven-step structured procedure for conducting a therapeutic group is described and then applied to each model. These group intervention outlines function as resources and guidelines for grounding practice interventions in theoretical knowledge, enabling delivery of "groups" in occupational therapy practice. The book is written in paragraph format with frequent numbered and/or bulleted lists, occasional (comparative) tables, few line drawings, diagrams, and schematics, and one black-and-white photograph. Previous editions were published in 2012, 2005, 1998, with the original published in 1993.
Purpose: The purpose of this edition is to expand the knowledge and application reach from adults with mental illnesses to other populations, specifically children and youth. While the inferred objectives are worthy, minimal material from previous editions has been removed and several updates have been added (e.g., trauma-informed care, online resources, caregiver education groups). Meeting the objectives could have been strengthened with a similar emphasis on new content — recovery, wellness, trauma-informed care — by combining this information with the seven-step structure and models of practice and creating several group intervention how-to's (one is provided on sensory modulation and trauma-informed care).
Audience: According to the author, the seven-steps format is a teaching tool for students, and reviewers requested the addition of material related to child and youth group interventions. The book meets the needs of this intended audience. From my perspective, the book is written for occupational therapy students., but it could easily be used by others — occupational therapy assistant students, novice OT practitioners (OTs and OTAs), and experienced practitioners who are changing practice settings (e.g., from one-to-one interventions to ones that also make use of group treatment). Unfortunately, the language is exclusionary of OTAs leading groups, as well as OT and/or OTA students. I have used earlier editions of this book with academic and fieldwork OT and OTA students and with colleagues who wanted to learn more about group dynamics in practice (e.g., clinical recreation therapists). This book is referenced in NBCOT's listing of most frequently used classroom textbooks — 53% of OTA programs require it and 12% recommend it; this is the only book in the category. In addition, 55% of OT programs require it and 12% recommend it; this is the most frequently used book in its category.
Features: The best aspect of the book is its descriptive application of group dynamics specifically applied to five various models of practice. These are models of how theoretical knowledge could (should) be applied in clinical practice. The section on writing group protocols is necessary as it incorporates critical thinking and clinical reasoning in practical, how-to ways. For the most part, references are original sources, even if they are older citations; this edition also makes use of online resources and incorporates references cited in the fourth edition (e.g., "newer," relevant to more current practice). The tables are a visual method to express content, concepts, and augment written descriptions. The descriptions of the various models seemed to be written from a "voice" representative of language and style of the model, which gives the reading a certain familiarity (and credibility?). The shortcomings include: not overtly including OTAs (and OTA students) as group leaders, which would mirror practice; recipients of OT services are termed patients, clients, individuals - confusing and at times per the model's preference (e.g., ACDM and clients), but consistency might be better; OT Practice Framework version 2012 was used; OTPF is updated every five years, so a 2019 version is expected, and this edition might be more valuable when connected with the latest OT terminology; in chapter 15, is Copeland's WRAP proprietary? The reference used is 2002; many if not all the activities are found in previous editions, and updated interventions would make the book more appealing and even more relevant to current practice; trauma-informed care language could have been used throughout, as could people-first language (e.g., "BPD patients" and "they are burdensome" is pejorative - p 174; mental retardation, p 195).
Assessment: I loved the third edition and used it extensively for academic teaching and in clinical practice. To read through the fifth edition is comforting, and the sections about wellness, recovery, and trauma-informed care are delightful, welcome, necessary additions (these concepts and practical applications are relevant to current practice). This edition will be useful to the intended audience of students but may not be a practical purchase for practitioners (and fieldwork educators) who have access to the third and/or fourth edition. The seven-step structure is a solid basis for designing group interventions and then applying them to the specific model. And as noted earlier, the seven-step structure and relatively basic information about group dynamics is applicable to other disciplines who lead groups as therapeutic interventions (e.g., recreational therapists and, in my hospital, social workers, psychologists, music therapists, addiction counselors, and mental health clinicians who are part of the nursing staff). I am not aware of other books dedicated to the topic, and certainly not ones that mash the models of practice or frames of reference together with group dynamics.

Doody's Review Service

New edition which illustrates the application of theory to the seven- step method in leadership/co-leadership of a group. Presents seven frames of reference for group therapy, highlighting recent developments in behavioral and cognitive theories and their application. Provides instructions for planning an occupational therapy group<-->identifying the patient population, selecting a frame of reference, and designing a treatment outline. Includes worksheets, learning exercises, activity examples, and outlines specific laboratory experiences for students. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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