Facilitating an Experiential Group in an Educational Environment: Managing Dual Relationships.

The significant benefit of experiential learning in group work presents ethical complexities that must be considered by students, faculty, and programs. This article explores the clinical and ethical intricacies of teaching a group counseling course while facilitating an experiential group as part of the course curriculum. Specifically, the framework presented examines the dual roles of facilitator and instructor as complementary versus adversarial functions while analyzing challenges to both teacher and students. Guidelines for effectively running an experiential group as part of a group counseling course are presented utilizing five ethical principles: fidelity, beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice. Finally, guidelines and practice considerations specifically tailored for the educative role as instructor and the process role as group facilitator are provided.

Use of an anecdotal client feedback note in family therapy.

To attain information about divergent agendas in family therapy, as well as incorporate client feedback, we present the Client Feedback Note (CFN). The CFN elicits information about each family member's feelings, learning, dislikes, and wishes for each session. Anecdotal feedback after each session may help the therapist have better insight into the clients' perceptions and experience of the therapy and the therapist. Sensitivity to information generated by the CFN can help both therapist and client work to coconstruct a therapeutic process that is relevant to the diverse needs of the client system. This manuscript will (a) discuss literature supporting the use of client feedback in therapy; (b) present the CFN and rationale for its development; (c) discuss our experiences utilizing the CFN along with case examples that illustrate its use; and (d) identify practical applications, limitations, and potential research with using the CFN in systemic therapy.

Family of origin as a supervisory consultative resource.

This article describes the rationale and methodology of a supervisory approach that recruits family-of-origin members as resources to help resolve professional dilemmas. We have found that professional impasses resonate with family-of-origin themes. As supervisory consultants, family-of-origin members have access to family stories, rules, myths, and resources that can provide new messages for a more differentiated use of self in the clinical setting. The standard format of this family supervisory consultation is separated in three phases. First, the supervisor discusses and explores the nature of the supervisee's professional dilemma (i.e., difficulty with angry clients). Second, the supervisor explores the evolution of this same theme through the historical and personal stories of the family-of-origin members. Third, the supervisee anonymously presents a specific case that exemplifies this theme. The supervisor, along with consultation from the family, focuses on the development of a more flexible use of self in the therapeutic system. Thus, the session begins and ends with the professional development of the supervisee. However, there is personal sharing during the second phase, so there are sections that address developmental, supervisory, and ethical considerations. Even though the goal of this meeting is to promote professional growth, personal and family changes are common by-products. Four supervisory anecdotes illustrate this approach to supervision.