A Review of the Creative Group Work Training Program for Facilitators

This article presents the first review of the Creative Group Work (CGW) training program for facilitators who provide group-based intervention programs to offenders in Corrective Services New South Wales, Australia. The program emphasizes the interpersonal aspects of group work and seeks to equip facilitators to engage with participants in a way that goes beyond the delivery of a curriculum into the here and now of group process. Participants in the program are encouraged to learn about group process first hand and to use their own personal experiences to explore how members relate to the group. This review presents a description of the program and feedback from the 167 trainees who attended CGW groups in 2011, based on their numerical responses to a brief user appraisal questionnaire, as well as their free-text comments. Respondents identified the strengths of the program as trainer competence, the experiential approach, personal engagement, the usefulness of the program, and the knowledge and skills acquired. The study found that the interpersonal and experiential aspects of the program were highly valued. Study limitations and future directions are discussed.