Beaded necklace with large amber and red beads, surrounding a round stone, on wooden background.

The Group Group

a workshop exploring

community group work practices

and community resilience

Not the periphery, not the community comes first, but the radii, the common relationship to the center. That alone assures the genuine existence of a community.

~ Martin Buber

a short video on why community and peer groups are essential

The Group-Group is an online discussion group gathered to support the participants in building community groups of various kinds: peer support groups, study groups, social and recreational groups, discussion and café groups, circle groups.

I firmly believe that our current individual support structures are insufficient for negotiating an era of complex and compounding crises, and that well- designed, resourced and curated community and peer support groups are profoundly necessary at this time.

Note: This group is designed to support lay people and community members and clinicians in building healthy, boundaried, well-designed non-clinicial community groups.

Many people who have attended this workshop have found it useful, even if they didn’t have a consolidated idea about what kind of group they want to start, or even that they want to convene one at all. This workshop focuses on defining the kinds of community groups that feel welcoming, balanced, and right for you, as a facilitator, convener, or simply as a group member.

  • ACCEPTING REGISTRATION FOR WAITING LIST

    I will poll prospective members when I have received enough applications for a viable group to schedule for Wed evenings or Saturday mornings

    Four sessions for 90 minutes

  • Each session’s discussion will be organized around a theme:

    1. Who:  Coming together, membership and outreach

    2. Why: Defining the need, problem, or dilemma the group will address

    3. What: The mission, purpose, and spirit of the group

    4. How:  Methods, materials and norms

    5. When/Where:  The implications of time, duration and frequency & environment

    6. Endings: Departures, setting down a group and what next

    • The suggested donation for the workshop is $425 (for 7 hours and 30 minutes of programming)

    • I expect to offer up to four free/pro bono seats in my workshops depending on group size/enrollment

    • Many people attend these workshops for a half ($210) or a quarter ($105) or whatever is affordable based on financial circumstances

    • People who are financially secure are welcome to supplement their donations to support those experiencing financial hardship.

    • If you are in a position to do so, please consider making a donation to provide scholarship funds to community members who have interest but do not have resources. For example a $52 donation subsidizes one full scholarship seat in the group, $21 supports a partial scholarship

    • Donations can be made on any schedule or installments as needed.

    • This workshop will give you real-time practice/troubleshooting & changed my facilitation style for the better and forever - K.S.

    • I decided to participate in Martha Crawford’s “Group-Group” to develop my skills and identify a framework that I could use for virtual groups. In addition to getting the needed skills, framework, and understanding of how to conduct groups, I met bright and interesting people that shared an interest in creating community groups. While I thought I was navigating the pandemic with close friends and family okay, it became clear that I had been missing a sense of community and participation in this group made me very aware of that. After we completed “Group-Group”, we remained in touch with quarterly zoom calls, participation in other groups/workshops, and email communication to check in, provide support, and share perspectives. – D.C.

Click the image below to read a recent article in the Boston Globe about The Group-Group!

Hands of diverse individuals holding books, yarn, decorative stars, a flower pot, and a woven textile, seen from above on a beige surface.

Application


This group actively welcomes members of different professions, races/ethnicities, gender identities and socioeconomic realities, spiritual/religious beliefs and practices.  The expectation is that we come together to try to hold each other’s diverse experiences with mutual respect.

In order for me to make sure that members receive what they need from this group please fill out the application form below.

All answers will be confidential. 


I am usually able to respond promptly so please check your spam folder
if you don’t receive confirmation in a day or two

APPLICATIONS ARE BEING ACCEPTED

BY DONATION