Recommended format for sessions

From Implementing the program in Families CARE: Helping Families Cope and Relate Effectively Facilitator’s Manual

For sessions of two hours, we suggest the following format:

• Opening and announcements (5 min.)
• Check-in and review of last week’s home practice (approx. 30 min.)
• Break (optional) (15 min.)
• Teaching and discussion (60 min.)
• Assignment of home practice (5 min.)
• Closing (5 min.).

These timings will need to be condensed for shorter sessions.

Opening

An opening ritual or exercise provides structure, routine and safety to the group, as well as helping participants prepare to take part in the group. Appendix 2 of the Introduction provides some examples of possible opening (and closing) exercises, though different facilitators may have their own approaches to opening and closing sessions.

Announcements

You will probably want to provide information on cancellations or changes to the group schedule, staff absences and any upcoming workshops or events that might interest the group members. Participants may also have announcements about their own upcoming absences or about relevant services or events.

Check-in and home practice review

Following the opening exercise and announcements, you will need to review the participants’ home practice from the previous week. This review is crucial: people learn new skills by practising them in familiar environments such as at home, and the participants are more likely to do so if they know they will be sharing their home practice experiences in the group, and if they have the opportunity for feedback from the facilitators and the other participants about what they have done well and what they could have done differently. Research indicates a strong relationship between homework completion and positive outcomes (Scheel et al., 2004).

During this part of the session, each person should have time to speak about what he or she practised during the week, and to discuss any difficulties or positive experiences. Facilitators and the other participants can reinforce the importance of practising at home and help family members to recognize their accomplishments. You can also help with problem solving if anyone encountered obstacles.

Given that sessions will probably be time-limited, we do not recommend unstructured opening check-ins, which may become lengthy. If family members want to share their experiences at length, they may be better served in a support group.

Break

There are pros and cons to offering a break. Whether or not you decide to do so will probably depend on the length of your sessions. If you do decide to provide a break, it may be best to do so before beginning the teaching section. If there is no break, you may wish to provide refreshments and snacks during the group. A snack may serve as an added incentive for coming to the group, and can help people to concentrate better during the session.

Teaching and discussion

At this point, you will follow the module outlines presented in this manual. You may wish to use all the materials that are provided for a given module, or to select those most relevant to your group. Each module focuses on a different topic and skill, but you may wish to spend more than one session on certain modules.

Home practice assignment

Next you will assign and explain the home practice based on the module you have covered. Usually, participants will need to decide what to do for their homework ahead of time. One option is to instruct them to write down what they plan to do and share it with the group, since a verbal commitment will increase the likelihood of their completing the assignment. Encourage participants to record what they practise during the week, so they can later refer back to their homework.

Some modules require participants to complete a reading or prepare something prior to the session. In order to let family members know about this, you will need to know which module you are doing next and whether it requires preparatory work at home.

If any participants have difficulty reading or writing in English, facilitators may need to adapt or verbally explain the homework exercises or readings, or (if the resources are available) have them translated into the person’s first language.

Closing

As with the opening, we recommend that you end the session with some form of ritual, such as a brief relaxation, spiritual or mindfulness exercise (for examples, see Appendix 2 of the Introduction). At times, it may be helpful to relate the closing to the session’s topic. For example:

• If you talked about self-care during the session, you could close by having family members listen to an inspirational poem on self-care, or listen to music, drink tea or eat something they enjoy.
• If you have completed a session on managing anxiety, you may wish to end with a relaxation exercise.
• If you have focused on supporting recovery, you may choose to end with the Serenity Prayer or the seven Cs (see Appendix 2 of the Introduction).

In this way, the closing exercise enables participants to practise what they have learned.

Reference

Scheel, M.J., Hanson, W.E. & Razzhavaikina, T.I. (2004). The process of recommending homework in psychotherapy: A review of therapist delivery methods, client acceptability, and factors that affect compliance. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 41 (1), 38–55.

Families CARE: Helping Families Cope and Relate Effectively Facilitator’s Manual

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