Chapter 10 (Jacobs, Ed) Exercises

Dyads

Dyads give members a chance to (1) interact with one other individual, (2) prac- tice some skill, or (3) do an activity that calls for two people to interact in some prescribed manner.

Movement Exercises

Movement exercises require members to do something of a physical nature; that is, the members move around.

Metaphorical Feedback

The leader asks members to think of an animal, a character in the movies or on TV, or an inanimate object, such as a sunset or a babbling brook, that reminds them of a designated member. Each member gets to hear how others see him, but the feedback comes in metaphorical fashion.

Gestalt Prayer

"I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, And you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful. If not, it can't be helped."

There are at least seven reasons for using exercises in a group:

1. To increase the comfort level 2. To provide the leader with useful information 3. To generate discussion and focus the group 4. To shift the focus 5. To deepen the focus 6. To provide an opportunity for experiential learning 7. To provide fun and relaxation

Wishes

A nonthreatening way to give feedback is by using wishes. The leader sets this exercise up by asking members to verbalize any wishes that they have for a given member.

Touching Exercises

A number of exercises can involve touching. Some are done with the entire group, such as a group massage or milling and touching; others are done in pairs, such as members lightly touching each other's hands or faces. Touching can be a very comforting and supportive activity if done properly. Many trust exercises involve touching in some manner. Also, some people are "touch deprived," and therefore, being touched can be a very helpful and freeing experience.

I should...

Another dyad exercise is one in which a member says to the partner, "I should ..." and the partner firmly responds, "No, you shouldn't!" Each partner goes through his list of "shoulds" and experiences being told no. This exercise helps members think through what really are important "shoulds" in their lives.

Arts and Crafts Exercises

Arts and crafts exercises require that members draw, cut, paste, paint, or create something with a variety of materials. These exercises can generate interest, focus the group, create energy, and trigger discussion.

Trust Exercises

Because groups involve sharing, the amount of trust that members have in each other is a group dynamic the leader must assess. If the leader finds that members do not trust one another or that more trust seems to be needed in the group, he may choose to have the members participate in trust exercises.

When to use exercises

Exercises can be used any time during a group session—at the very beginning, during the middle phase, and at the very end. Exercises can be very helpful to use in some groups at the very beginning because members are not focused on the task at hand

Fantasy Exercises

Fantasies help members become more aware of their feelings, wishes, doubts, and fears. An example of a fantasy exercise is the ?common object,? in which the leader directs the members to imagine themselves as an object that is in the room (a book, wastebasket, cup, purse, window, pencil, chair, and so forth). The leader guides the members through the fantasy by asking what it feels like to be the object, what life is like being that object, their role in life, and so forth.

Common Reading Exercises

In common reading exercises members read a short passage, poem, or story. Such readings often serve the purpose of triggering ideas and thoughts and of deepen- ing the focus on some topic or issue.

I Have To—I Choose To.

In this exercise, mem- bers pair up and take turns saying aloud their list of things that they feel they "have" to do. Then they go back and change the recitation from "I have to" to "I choose to." A variation of this is to start with the phrase "I need," which changes to "I want." These kinds of exercises give members a chance to hear how they can change some of their demands or needs. Saying statements aloud to another person makes more of an impact than saying them only to oneself.

Written Feedback

In this exercise, members are asked to write out feedback for each member of the group. This is usually done between sessions because it can take quite a bit of time. The value of this kind of feedback is that members experi- ence reading about themselves from the point of view of a number of other people. Most people have not received written feedback from six or eight people at one time. This kind of feedback activity should be used only with members who are basically stable and members who have been meeting for quite a while. The leader would provide members with instructions on what kind of feedback to write.

Home Spot

In this exercise, members stand in a circle holding hands. Each one picks a spot in the room to try to maneuver the group toward it. Because most members have a different spot and all are holding hands, many different dynamics occur.

How Far Have You Come?

In this exercise, the leader has the members stand side by side and think about how far they have come during the group in terms of reaching their goals.

Goals Walk

In this exercise, the members line up across from each other. Each member will take a turn walking through the area between the members. The members act as obstacles in the walker's path toward his or her goals, which are at the other end.

Adjective Checklist

Members take turns being the focus of the group. Mem- bers are given a written list of 15 to 20 adjectives that describe people, and mem- bers pick 3 to 5 adjectives that describe the member who is receiving feedback. Using the adjectives gives members a structured way to describe each other.

5 Reasons For Using Movement Exercises

Movement exercises give group members a chance to experience something rather than discuss it. ■ The drama of movement exercises may cause members to remember what took place in the group more readily in the days or weeks following than might otherwise occur if only discussion is used. ■ Movement exercises usually involve all the members. That is, all members are up and doing something, whereas in discussion exercises some members may not be involved. ■ Movement exercises give members a chance to stretch and move around. This can be good for young people and for members who have been sitting for a long while. It is important to remember that members can become bored and fatigued if seated too long or if the format remains unchanged for extended periods. ■ Most movement exercises usually get the members to "talk" with their feet, such as when they position themselves on a continuum. Therefore, leaders can draw members out by having them do some kind of movement and then asking them to comment on why they positioned themselves as they did.

Experiential Exercises

Several group exercises can be classified as experiential because the members are involved in some kind of individual or group experience that is active and often challenging. Some experiential exercises can also be used to build trust. Probably the most well-known set of experiential exercises is the "Ropes Course," which is "a blend of activities designed to take individuals and groups beyond their own expectations, or perceived willingness to try"

Group Sculpture

Similar to family sculpture, group sculpture is an exercise that has the members sculpt how they see the group. This is different from the sculpture where members sculpt themselves. In this exercise, a member sculpts everyone; that is, members position people in the group in accordance to how they see the different relationships and roles of the members. This can be a good exercise for groups where members know each other well, such as in a residential group or a long-term counseling or therapy group. It serves as a feedback exer- cise because members show how they see the different members of the group.

Family Sculpture

Similar to having members sculpt how they feel about the group, in this exercise, the leader has members sculpt their families as they see them now or when they were growing up. This exercise is usually very reveal- ing. Members find it interesting to sculpt their own family and to see how other members sculpt theirs. The exercise is used to generate discussion about past and present family relationships.

Talk About the Members

There will be times when the leader will decide to focus on a member for the purpose of giving her feedback. The leader would have members talk about the member, focusing on whatever the leader thinks would be helpful, such as how she presents herself, issues she is avoiding, or positive qualities. When doing this, the leader may have the member being discussed sit quietly and close her eyes, or turn around so she is not facing the group. This depends on the member receiving feedback, the members giving the feedback, and the kind of feedback that is about to be given. If the leader feels the members will speak more openly if the member who is receiving feedback is not watching, the leader may have that member turn around. Also, many people have said they can listen better when they are not looking at others while they are being talked about. The leader should use caution when conducting this type of exercise and should do this only when it is helpful for the member receiving the feedback.

Group-Decision Exercises

These activities involve members working together to solve some sort of prob- lem, such as being lost on the moon with certain supplies. The group would be asked to determine the best way to use the supplies. Depending on the size of the group, the entire group may work together as one unit or be divided into two or three groups of four members each.

Rounds

This consists of the leader reading a statement and the members stating how they feel about the statement. The members would usually respond with strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree.

Personal Space

This exercise consists of members standing in a circle not too close to each other—almost at arm's length. The leader then instructs them to close their eyes and to feel the space around them, exploring around their head and in front, to the sides, and behind them. The leader then instructs them to venture out of "their space" by using their arms, which usually results in mem- bers touching each other. Discussion often centers on the comfort level of their space and feelings about venturing out. Eventually, the leader will want the dis- cussion to move toward members' feelings about their space as they live their daily lives.

Milling Around

This exercise involves having the members walk around. There are a number of activities that the members may do while milling, such as experiencing or avoiding eye contact or touching another member gently on the shoulder or elbow.

Changing Seats

This exercise involves members standing and then finding a different seat in which to sit. The purpose is to allow members to stretch and move around and also to sit next to and face different members by virtue of changing location.

Strength Bombardment

This exercise is similar to the preceding one because the members talk about each other; but in this exercise, the feedback is done in a more organized fashion. That is, the leader directs the group to describe the strengths of the designated member. The leader appoints one member to keep a list of all the strengths so that the member can have the list when the exercise is over. A variation is to also list weaknesses or areas needing improvement.

Become a Statue

This exercise requires members to stand at some distance from each other; on the count of three they all become statues to show how they see themselves, either in the group or in their lives outside the group (depending on the purpose of the exercise). This exercise is good for giving members the chance to visually represent themselves.

First Impressions

This is an exercise where members share their first impres- sions of other members. This can be done in the first session or can be used in later sessions when the members have had a chance to revise their first impres- sions. If used in a later session, members get a chance to hear how they are perceived now and how they were perceived when others first met them.

Sculpt Your Feeling About the Group

This is an exercise where the leader has the members stand in a circle and "sculpt" how they feel about the group, using their body and hands.

Most/Least Feedback

This kind of feedback involves members sharing how they feel about other members by using a "most" and "least" designation. For example, the leader may ask members to designate the following: ■ To whom they feel most similar and least similar ■ With whom they feel most comfortable and least comfortable ■ Whom they trust most and whom they trust least ■ Who they feel is working hardest in the group and who they feel is working the least This kind of exercise can create much interaction and must be used with care. The leader can ask for just one category, such as "most comfortable," instead of both categories. Members not only give feedback, but receive feedback by being named by others. After the initial round of members offering their views, mem- bers should be allowed to ask questions about why they were named by another member.

Conducting an Exercise

When conducting an exercise, there are at least six considerations of which the leader needs to be aware: 1. Ensuring that members follow instructions 2. Allowing members to not share 3. Handling emotional reactions 4. Changing or stopping the exercise 5. Informing members of the time 6. Deciding whether the leader will participate

Values Continuum

With this exercise, members position themselves according to how they think and feel about an issue. The leader designates certain locations in the room as symbolic of a viewpoint. One side of the room represents one point of view, and the other side the opposite point of view. The members are asked to stand in the middle of the room and then move to the position on the continuum between the two designated spots.

Written Exercises

Written exercises are among the most versatile and useful of all the exercise types. Written exercises are structured activities where members write lists, answer questions, fill in sentence-completion items, write down their reactions, or mark checklists relat- ing to an issue or topic.

Moral Dilemma Exercises

a story is read or passed out to the members and each member has to decide how she would handle the situation. Some of these stories involve stealing food to sustain life, deciding who is allowed to stay in a lifeboat, or deciding whether to tell the authorities about a crime. These exercises usually generate a discussion about values, justice, and fairness. They can be used at the beginning of a session and become the focus of the entire session, or they can be used as an exercise that takes about 30 minutes to discuss and process.

Sentence-Completion Exercises

a written state-ment with a portion left blank for the member to fill in.. generate interest and energy among members because members are usually curi- ous about how other members have responded

Feedback Exercises

allow the members and the leader to share their feelings and thoughts about each other. Leaders should not conduct a feed- back exercise unless they feel the members have enough goodwill to try to be helpful rather than cruel or insensitive. It is best to avoid conducting a feedback exercise with members who have no desire to be helpful or to listen to feedback from others.

Listing Exercises

can be done quickly and can easily be geared to the level and needs of the group members. Some examples of lists include: characteristics of friendship; hobbies, and other recreational activities; important people; positive personal qualities; traits desired in a love partner; or characteristics inherent in the ideal job. allows them to sum- marize their thoughts in a succinct fashion; it also helps them to focus.

Written-Response Exercises

leader asks members to respond in various ways to problems or questions posed by the leader. (Ex. diaries, reflections)

exercise

used among group leaders to refer to an activity that the group does for a specific purpose.