Mood Support Group Ground Rules & Process
This is a weekly, on-going group, with flexible participation, for people who have done The Mindful Mood or Mindful Living Workshops.
Details of the Mood Support Group
This is a weekly, on-going group, with flexible participation, for people who have done The Mindful Mood or Mindful Living Workshops.
Location:
Beach neighbourhood, Toronto, Ont.
Time:
Most Mondays from 10:00AM to 1:00PM, exact dates regularly updated on the Upcoming Workshops page.
Type of Group:
This group is a Support Group as well as a Problem Solving Group. In addition, there is the opportunity to be challenged by group members. This means that if you choose to speak in depth about your issues (beyond the brief check-in at the beginning of each group), you begin by saying if you want to be heard without interruption as you speak, or whether you want to be challenged as you speak. After you have spoken, you may invite or not invite feedback such as problem-solving help and/or further challenge.
As the leader, I will try my best to insure that challenges are clean. Ways to keep challenges clean are to begin by acknowledging your own stuff, or that what you're about to say may be your own stuff but you're unsure. I may remind the challenger of this. If you challenge, you are inviting challenge to yourself.
You can ask the group for specific challenges and/or you can ask me for specific challenges that may or may not be the same as what you want from the group.
You may challenge me, Ginny, on any aspects of my leadership or facilitation that you have difficulty with.
IF YOU HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH SOMEONE IN THE GROUP, PLEASE SPEAK TO ME PRIVATELY, THEN WE WILL SEE WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
This group is not a substitute for individual psychotherapy. I require that all members of the group are in active individual therapy while in the group.
Turn-taking and Time-keeping:
Each group session will begin with a period of mindfulness practice followed by each person giving a 1 to 2 minute, brief check-in. After this, each person has the opportunity to speak in more depth about their issues if they wish to. If you want to speak about your issues in depth, then it is up to you to speak up - a bit of "first come first serve". Not everyone will necessarily speak in depth each week.
As the leader, I will try to balance the above with a sense of fairness for how much time each person gets. There is a guideline of a max of 20 - 30 minutes per person for in-depth issues. If, as a result of someone's issues, a discussion is going on for 30 minutes or more, I will check with the group if they want to continue, stop, etc with the discussion. In other words, each person is to take responsibility for whether or not they speak in depth at each session.
Commitment to the Group:
If you want to be a part of the group, then you commit to being at the group on a regular basis. If you're going away on a holiday, or some other event is going to keep you away from the group, you let the group know about this at the beginning of the session, not the end. You also let the group, and me, know if you will be with us at the following group session.
If you commit to being at a session and do not show up or cancel, you will be billed approximately $86.00 for the missed session (rates subject to change without notice). If you let us know about a scheduled absence, as outlined above, you will not be billed. Late and leaving early fees of approximately $14 per half hour also apply, unless you have stated at the previous session that you would be late or leave early. In summary, billing will take place if there has not been one week's notification for a cancellation, early departure or late arrival.
If you wish to take a break from the group, or leave the group, you let the group know about this at the beginning of the session, not the end. You do your best to let the group in on why you are going so that they are not left worrying that they had done something to cause you to leave, or any other possible imaginings, and so that they can re-form the group after you have left.
Guidelines, Grounding and Safety policies from The Mindful Mood Workshop also apply to this group.
Feedback:
To monitor how the above guidelines are working, we engage in feedback discussions from time to time, as needed.