Learning Group Leadership: An Experiential Approach

This book is a good Group therapy beginner's book. It explains the various aspects that must be considered. It is a fairly quick and easy read. Has class, individual and other kinds of activities included in the chapters.

Jeffery Kottler's Book is a great insight to the background world of communication. It has a lot of information explaining the concepts of leadership especially in the group setting and how to use those concepts in the field of social work, education, group therapy, and other such service areas. As a person looking into the field of social work or education I believe the information contained in the book are things we overlook at times and forget the qualities we have as people that help us help others. Eventually each one of us will have to lead and take on the role of a leader to our pees, whether its work, school, or even at home it is nice to see areas we can improve in and areas we can change. Those the book read is not a novel the information in I can't be substituted. As a communication student, it is nice to see the subjects I'm learning in the work of others in the field of communication. It is also great to see so many different topic areas and way to make concepts of small group communication more specified and focused on an area I can possibly use in the future. Looking at this book has made me curious to look at some of Kottler's other works dealing more with social work and learning more about how I can apply these concepts in the work place. As a resource the book is a great tool to turn to and learn more about the field of communication, so if you not interested in that then it may not be the book for you. I wish it could have been less like a manual and more like a book but that's not what his purpose was and you still again a lot from it.

Clear presentations of what the new group counselor needs to observe, watch for, and intervene on. With the experiential homework and the practical emphasis, it is very useful for those about to begin practica or internships. I would use it with text that reviews research and basic concepts of groups in general (e.g. Forsyth's GROUP DYNAMICS). Kottler doesn't cover such key concepts as group goals and norms.

This is the perfect book for the beginning group practitioner. Easy to follow and helpful for those in the mental health field.