the group intervention strategies in coping stress

Through the group intervention strategies in coping stress such as guided group meditation, laughing and activities such as the treasure hunt, some women can cope up with their stresses. Through the sharing of experiences pertaining to the various stresses the African American women go through, they get to let go of what hurt them from the inside thus being able to cope better. According to Ghodhav et. Al, guided mediation is an important activity during group therapy which aids a lot a person to overcome stress and anxiety by sharing their experiences with their fellow peers (Ferencik, 1992)

Additionally, the stress management group is also aid full in giving the African American women advices on how they can handle some situations. For instance, parents who children with indiscipline issues get to be advised on how best they can correct their children in the right way. Domestic violence being another crucial issue affecting this group of women, they also get to be advised by their peers on how best to cope with the situations to avoid harm or family breakups which could add up the problems already at hand

Among the African American women, there are also those participants who are grappling with drug addiction issues, which form up part of their stresses. Through the stress management group, they get to intermingle with individuals who have overcome drug abuse and get to be advised on better ways to handle their stresses as well as the addiction (Everett et al., 2010). For that reason, some members of these groups also get to benefit greatly from the advices they get from their fellow members

Lastly, the advice the members get from the counsellor is very important. Through the stress management groups, the counsellor normally serves a great deal in giving the members the best solution to handling their stresses. Though there is the advice the members might get from their colleagues, this serves as the professional advice and under most instances the best course of action for a member to take in dealing with their stresses.

Though the stress management group seeks to help its members overcome the stresses they might be going through, this does not work for some members. Under some cases, the major cause for stress to some members may be financial. Normally, the group may not be able to address individual financial constraints, which leaves the affected member with no favourable solutions. Additionally, some members may not feel free enough to share their problems, which makes it hard for them to be solved.

Indeed, stress management groups can be one of the important alternatives for solving stress among African American women. However, the is a gap of knowledge in research about this topic, thus its effectiveness has not been assessed. Some researches simply focus on the stress management strategies for women, stress management groups for the nurses while none specifically focuses on this particular topic. The article, “Everyday Conflict and Daily Stressors: Coping Responses of Black Women”, only focuses on the stressors affecting the group, but does not go into stress management groups as a solution to the problem. As such, there exists a niche in research specifically focusing on this issue.

The application of the stress management group in helping the African American women cope with their stress is such a viable solution. Under the current society we are living in, the challenges, problems and the stressors that affect this group of the society are much common. As such, when it comes to group intervention, then ideally they have a common thing to share when makes it much easier to cope with stress. Through the guidance of a counsellor, the members can easily meet at a specified location for the group therapy. At the moment, technologies such as Zoom have proved to work effectively in facilitating conferencing. As such, those members who may not manage to attend meeting physically can virtually attend it. For those who might be fearful at first, such a medium can be crucial in encouraging them to open up to their problems.

One of the major setbacks that can arise with the application of this system is the unwillingness of some of the members to share their personal experiences. In the event of such an occurrence, it makes it hard for interaction among the group members, which is the essence of the groups. This way, the members of the group will just retain their problems eliminating the essence of the group therapy. When this happens, members who would have potentially aired their stresses become fearful and retain their problems. According to Yori Gidron, group members’ stresses are relieved when they get to know it’s not just them who are going through the problems. However, with the members being unwilling to air their experiences, this essence of the group therapy is eliminated (Galik et al., 2013)

Because the members of the stress management group will be volunteering to join by themselves, there is the challenge of diversity. When it comes to group intervention, diversity is important since it helps provide a variety of opinions and solutions to problems. However, when building up the group, the members will join voluntarily, which will not guarantee diversity, which is an important ingredient when it comes to group therapy

However, though this is still an evolving system, there is very little research conducted about this topic, thus making it hard to assess the effectiveness of such a group in stress management. Upon a deeper study into the topic, all the influential parameters regarding the functionality and effectiveness of these groups can be measured, to understand how they can work best. African American women, for instance, go through common challenges such as stereotyping, racism, domestic violence, drug abuse and sexism, to which some of them can be effectively solved by the use of group intervention (Everett et al., 2010). However, there are also some aspects such as financial stress, that may not be directly solved.

Through the establishment of a stress management group for the African American women, the values and ethics of social practice will be upheld. To begin with, social justice shall be upheld since such a group can allow for those mothers who are domestically abused to gain the strength to fight for their rights. With such a group, human relationships will be fostered as it will allow for the members to share their problems and views, which will, in turn, uphold their wellbeing. In a therapy group, the dignity of every person is respected and thus its importance in upholding their self-worth. Through the mediation and control by a professional therapist or counsellor, it is indeed clear that a stress management group is a true reflection of the ethical and social values of the social works practice (Bisman, 2004).

Strengths of the group intervention

Helps group members get relieved of their stress by sharing their experiences. By understanding that they are not the only ones undergoing the given challenges, they get to share ways of how they can cope with them
There is a professional presence. In a stress management group, there is always a counsellor or a therapist, who can give more professional advice and therapy to the members in handling their stresses.

The members joining the group are given the freedom to decide on whether they share their experiences or not, therefore making them free with the fellow group members

A large group of people get to achieve a stress management technique at an affordable fee.

Limitation of a stress management group

Some group members may be unwilling to share their personal experiences, thus making it hard to undertake group intervention. Given the fact that the counsellor has no power to force members, then it becomes much hard to run the group.
The is a niche in the research about this area. As such, it is difficult to ascertain its effectiveness and functionality of a stress management group for African American adult women.

Conclusion

There is minimal research conducted about stress management groups for African American women. However, it is also clear that such a group can be of great importance in helping manage the stresses. Based on the findings, it is clear that the factors that are resulting in stress for this social group are common. Some of the issues include workplace stress, racism, stereotyping, finances, drug abuse and domestic issues. Having noted the challenges, they go through are quite similar, then it implies that the use of group intervention could be a good remedy in managing their stress. This is an interesting topic especially because it is expanding on an area that has not yet been focused a lot. With regards to that, further research needs to be conducted regarding stress management groups and additionally focusing on the different social groups such as college students, African American women and adolescents.