IAC - IRTAC International Conference
    "Counseling Children and Youth at the Edge of Third Millenium"
    Bratislava, Slovakia, August, 24-27, 1999, Conference Center "SUZA"

The growth and development group

Branka Dadasovic, B.A. psychologist, Social Work Center, Marita and counselling department, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia;
Miodrag Dadasovic, B.A. psychologist, National and University Library "St.Kliment Ohridski", Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
     This work came up from our experience in work with dysfunctional families, partners divorcing families, families with problems        of alcoholism, drugs, as well as work with children and adolescents of such families. Divorcing cause losing of the primary family role, children lose one parent. Divorce leads to stress decreases family power for cohesion and adaptation that stops family and children development. That leads to low level of self-respect resulting with losing of security feeling and self-identity.
Adolescence is tempestuous for all the family especially for the adolescent. Aiming to help to adolescents and their families a program was made for group work with teenager adolescents. Group consists of 15 adolescents on age from 14 till 18 years.
Program methodology was established through creative workshops in their reference group with helping to reach the answers to their development phase problems of cognitive, emotional and behavioral character.
Program aims: This work have aims to form complete identity (personal self, sex self, social self, working self).     During 16 workshops group have reached the aims and develop in-group for self-development. This 15 teenagers spreads the net for group work with their palls so that 300 adolescents pass through this program.
This work came up from our experience in work with dysfunctional families, partners divorcing families, families with problems of alcoholism, drugs, as well as work with children and adolescents of such families. Divorcing cause losing of the primary family role, children lose one parent. Divorce leads to stress decreases family power for cohesion and adaptation that stops family and children development. That leads to low level of self-respect resulting with losing of security feeling and self-identity.
One parent loosing (divorce, death, and separation) leads to separation crises, sadness and process of grief within the children. It’s very hard to go through these processes in the phase of adolescence, when a young man faces with problems of self-growth and development. All family conditions reflects within the maturation process in adolescents, his individualization, so he could show some emotional problems such as identity crises, over somatic disturbances, or addiction disorders.
Helping adolescents in this hard development life period, complicated in the same time with family system braking (divorce, separation, and death) was the aim of this Work Program.
The Program method is group intervention and therapies in form of workshops with adolescents, oriented to influent on inter and intro psychical stoppage originated in development crisis.
Specific Program aims is: Systemic approach was used as a method of work and referent frame accompanied with few techniques: biblio therapy,
gestalt therapy, puppet therapy, role play, value explanation, problem solving, as well as with emotion vocabulary, draw, color and movement expression, water fantasies and others.
A genogram was prepared for every member at the beginning of the Program. As a separate technique in the work with adolescents for discovering their coping as well as modalities for facing the stress, SIX PIECES STORY techniques was used based on BASIC pH (Believe, Affective, Social, Imaginative, Cognitive and Physical).
This techniques, conducted in play context of the group, initiates individual resources of imaginative, value, affective, physical and social aspects of their personalities.
The group was consisted of 15 adolescents on age of 14 till 18 years. The group was completely heterogeneous but balanced on intellectual and cognitive level. All group participants have had developmental problems as well as family problems (7 adolescents came from divorced parents families and live with their mothers, 4 adolescents have their father died and one with her mother died, three adolescents live with their grandmothers even their parents are alive (remarried parents). This talks about the added stress accumulation within these adolescents.
General characteristic of this group is disrupted family system.
The Workshops was conducted through play context exchange with aim to find new cognitive, emotional and behavioral answers on crises in which they are posited.
The Program was developed in four months period, consisted of 16 workshops. The Workshops was methodological prepared and structured in advance with clear aims and tasks. They were conducted once a week in two hours duration.
Evaluation of the Program is in form of description because of the experimental nature of the Program. At the beginning every adolescent has filled out input questionnaire and output questionnaire at the end of the Program. Questionnaires were related on the nature of the adolescent problems and their expectations for the resolution way. Output questionnaire shows how were their expectations fulfilled.
The group shows great satisfaction of this kind of work participation.
Six pieces story was given as well at the beginning as well at the end of the Program where could be detected coping mechanisms, which were very low and cramped at the beginning (two or three copings were used only). Six pieces story given at the end shows bigger stress facing modality repertoire. Almost all modalities were used which shows their relatively rapid crisis overcoming and strengthening their resiliency.
After four months work, all adolescents shows better interaction degree, spontaneous and self identity accepting.
Our and intention of the group is to proceed with the group work. The second phase is that every group member has to form their own group in their environment. This network will spread in their local communities which perform the intention to help the youth in this very sensitive, beauty and hard life period.