About this resource
Good groups feel safe, purposeful and fun. This guide covers planning a session with a clear purpose, setting group agreements with young people, a simple four-part session structure, original warm-up activities, managing common group dynamics and responding safely to disclosures.
Purpose
To help facilitators run safe, engaging and well-structured group sessions.
Who it is for
Primary profession: Youth workers. Also relevant for educators and school support staff.
Client or participant group: Youth workers and educators running groups for young people aged about 12 to 25.
Practice setting: Youth services, schools, community programs and drop-in groups.
Suggested uses
- Planning a new group program
- Training new facilitators
- Running one-off workshops
- Reviewing group sessions in supervision
Instructions for practitioners
- Plan each session with a clear purpose and a backup activity.
- Set group agreements with the group in the first session.
- Use the four-part structure: open, warm up, main activity, reflect and close.
- Manage dynamics early and respectfully.
- Respond to disclosures privately and follow your organisation's procedures.
Accessibility considerations
Offer different ways to take part: talking, drawing, writing or moving. Adapt activities for literacy, language and disability.
Scope and limitations
A facilitation guide. It does not replace your organisation's child safety, duty of care and risk procedures.
Research basis
Group programs work through shared experience, belonging and practising skills with others.
- Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (5th ed.). Basic Books.
What is included
A 3-page printable A4 PDF, including a practitioner notes page with the research basis (version 1.0).
Originality
Original Practitioner Plus content: wording, activity structure, layout and icons were created for this resource. No third-party worksheets, illustrations or text were reproduced.
