Leadership Summit

A Leadership Summit was completed among myself and 3 other students in my class to plan for our next group facilitation. We were all scheduled to lead our first independent group facilitation February 19^th, 2018. The summit was very helpful and beneficial!

Based on our interactions when meeting, I think that we were all a little worried since we were the first group of people to lead a group session by ourselves. However, through collaboration, the stress started to fade. The summit was informative and encouraging. We shared different suggestions to do for warm-up activities, discussed our topics, and what we planned to do during our group session. It was helpful to have peers who I could go to for advice and opinions. In addition, it was warming to have the support from others.

From this experience, I learned that comparing notes and sharing idea among peers can be very helpful. I am most grateful for the feedback that I received from others. It was a way for me to take in their opinion and make adjust to material as need. Collaboration is important in the profession of occupational therapy. We collaborate with out clients, colleagues, etc. Having this experience is something that I can carry with me lifelong after occupational therapy school and into the profession when I began to practice.  

College Budgeting 101

Yesterday, I led my first group session by myself. I had so many mixed emotions prior to leading the group session. I did not really know what to expect because I was the first of my small-group session (team red) to be in this position. The same questions kept running through my mind, “Am I prepared? Will the group members participate? Will everything run smoothly?” These questions start to completely freak me out because I honestly thought that I was not prepared to lead a group session by myself. I knew that I was knowledgeable about the topic, but how could I possibly get others to relate and learn from this session? Nevertheless, the group session went better than I had planned!

The group session I led “College Budgeting 101” focused on teaching budget life skills to group members by providing strategies and tips to manage money. My audience were college students who had limited funds to budget with. I enjoyed the engagement of group members and hearing the different perspectives when it came to budgeting. I learned from them, and I hope that the members were able to learn something new from the me during the session. My focus was to incorporate a real life scenario so that members can learn how budgets sheet can be a challenge but also make it a fun activity that they would enjoy. I personally feel like all the group members enjoyed the activity based off their level of participation, engagement, and attitude. 

A strength of mine was getting everyone to participate and respect one another. In addition, I felt like I brought a positive attitude to the atmosphere. For me, I think the most important part of my activity was the processing and generalizing/application part. These parts gave members a chance to interact with other members, learn from peers, and analyze their budgets. I enjoyed hearing the response and dialogue during the session! It was shocking to see what was important to everyone and how budgeting plays a role in their lives.   

An area of improvement for me would be to continue to work on confidence when leading. Also, I can improve in the area of activity. I could have explained the activity a little more clearly so that all members fully understood their role. I did it about mid-way, but it should have been something that was clearly defined prior to starting the activity.

All in all, I enjoyed how this group session went. It was a challenge to be the first of my small-group to lead a group session by myself. I did not know what to expect or a model to go by. Because of this, I was not as self-assured as I should have been. However, due to this, I learned that it is okay to make mistakes and not be perfect because there is always room for improvement. I was able to apply and fully use what I learned during the didactic portion of this class to facilitate this group.  Going forward, I know that group session will get better with practice and time!

Building Empathy

I really enjoyed my first experience as a group facilitator. I was nervous at first, but it helped to have Lauren McGee and Lauren Newman as co-facilitators. They both brought great ideas and together we successfully completed our first group session!

Prior to the session, I had no idea how I was going to co-facilitate a group therapy session. My initial thought, "Am I ready/prepared for this?" However, when it was time to lead, the actual "leading" part was not so bad! Once I started getting engaged in the session, the nervousness started to fly out the window.  I was able to be a leader and someone that my clients can look to for support and encouragement. 

            The group session “building empathy” went very well because everyone in the session were willing to share with one another and engage in conversation. I feel that the session was very engaging, meaningful, and a great opportunity for growth. I learned from members of the group, and I hope that they learned from me. The setting was in a nice size room and we were all close to each other without feeling uncomfortable. The session started and ended on time and we stayed on schedule throughout. The topic of empathy sparked a lot of dialogue and everyone seemed interested in the activities.

            My strengths from the session were being able to stay on task and make everyone feel appreciated/welcomed. I made sure that once everyone shared, I would whisper “thank you” to them. I feel that I should improve in the area of confidence. Going into the session, I did not feel very confident and it wasn’t until almost the end that I began to make that transition to a good confident state. Often, I underestimate myself and the knowledge that I have. However, with more group sessions opportunities, I will be confident when leading.

 I give myself a leadership score of 95. I know that there is still room for improvement in various areas.  All in all, I enjoyed this opportunity and I look forward to the next!