Group Work at MCFB

At MCFB we run a number of therapeutic groups for children and young people. They are smaller in size (usually 6 to 10 members) than most youth groups and have a “closed membership” for the duration of the group (10 - 15 sessions). The groups are facilitated by MCFB staff members with the help of social work students. This provides opportunities for the students to develop skills and knowledge in group work which they can hopefully use in their future practice.

The groups use a range of mediums (art and craft activities, trust and listening games, play, drama and music) to enable the young people to deal with conflict, and develop more understanding and control over their behaviour. The aim is to help them develop more positive social relationships and to build self esteem.

We generally have one outing during the groupwork programme which gives the young people an opportunity to try out new activities, such as horse-riding, archery, kayaking or mountain biking. At the end of the groupwork programme some young people will return for further blocks of groupwork or they might move on to more mainstream youth provision. Sometimes we have been able to access funding for a more specific type of groupwork programme. For example, in the past we have run a 10 week outdoor activity group for teenage girls funded by different trusts.

We currently have a weekly boys' group (ages 9 to 11 years) which meets at a local community centre within the Leith area and a group for young women (ages 11 to 14 years) which also meets on a weekly basis in the Leith area. We are also currently running a weekly art therapy group for primary aged children. If you are interested in finding out more about these groups please contact Steve Gowenlock at MCFB .

Comments from parents:

© 2008 MCFB

Valid XHTML | Valid CSS