Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy

In occupational therapy practice, well designed groups represent social and cultural contexts for occupational performance in everyday life. Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy: The Theoretical Basis and Practice Application of Group Intervention, the best-selling text for over 25 years by Marilyn B. Cole, has been updated to a Fifth Edition, offering strategies and learning tools to place clients in effective groups for enhanced therapeutic interventions.

Updated to meet the AOTA's Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, Third Edition, this Fifth Edition provides guidelines for occupational therapy group design and leadership and guides application of theory-based groups.

The theory section clarifies how occupation based models and frames of reference change the way occupational therapy groups are organized and how theory impacts the selection of group activities, goals, and outcomes. Recent examples and evidence are added in this Fifth Edition to reflect the design and use of groups for evaluation and intervention within the newly evolving paradigm of occupational therapy.

The third section focuses on the design of group protocols and outlines a series of group experiences for students. These are intended to provide both personal and professional growth, as well as a format for practice in group leadership, self-reflection, cultural competence, and community service learning. A new chapter focusing on the recovery model and trauma-informed care suggests ways for occupational therapists to design group interventions within these broadly defined approaches.

Cole's 7-step format for occupational therapy group leadership provides a concrete, user-friendly learning experience for students to design and lead theory based groups. The settings for which students can design group interventions has been updated to include current and emerging practice settings.

Included with the text are online supplemental materials for faculty use in the classroom.

With a client-centered theoretical approach, Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy: The Theoretical Basis and Practice Application of Group Intervention, Fifth Edition continues a 25-year tradition of education for occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant students and clinicians.

Marilyn B. (Marli) Cole, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, is a Professor Emeritus of Occupational Therapy at Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Connecticut, and an occupational therapy consultant. After 25 years of teaching she has now become a full-time writer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Connecticut, a graduate certificate in occupational therapy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from the University of Bridgeport. Also, she is licensed by the state of Connecticut to practice occupational therapy and is certified by the Center for Study of Sensory Integrative Dysfunction to administer the Southern California Sensory Integration Tests. The author has more than 24 years of practice experience in mental health, pediatrics, and geriatrics. Places of work include Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Middlesex Memorial Hospital in Middletown, Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London, and Newington Children’s Hospital, all in Connecticut. While teaching, courses included psychiatric clinical media, group leadership, group dynamics, frames of reference, fieldwork I and II, psychopathology, sensorimotor integration, computer technology lab, evaluation, intervention, problem-based learning, research, and geriatrics. She has also served as consultant for the West Haven VA Medical Center, the Portland Public Schools, Fairfield Hills Hospital, the Institute of Living, St. Joseph’s Manor, and Baldwin Senior Center, all in Connecticut. In conjunction with Quinnipiac University, she escorted groups of fieldwork students to clinical and community practice sites in England, Costa Rica, and Australia. In addition to four prior editions of Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy: The Theoretical Basis and Practice Application of Group Intervention (1993, 1998, 2005, 2012), Marli has coauthored three books within the past 10 years: Applied Theories in Occupational Therapy: A Practical Approach (2008), with coauthor Roseanna Tufano of Quinnipiac University; Social Participation in Occupational Contexts: In Schools, Clinics and Communities (2011), with coauthor Mary Donohue, retired professor from New York University; and Productive Aging: An Occupational Perspective (2015), with coauthor Karen Macdonald. A coedited book with Jennifer Creek, an occupational therapy researcher and writer from York, England, entitled Global Perspectives in Professional Reasoning, was published by SLACK Incorporated in 2016. Her chapters for other texts include “A Preference for Activity” in Gibson’s Group Process and Structure (1988); “Client-Centered Groups” in Creek and Lougher’s Occupational Therapy in Mental Health (2008, 2015); “Retirement, Volunteering, and End of Life Issues” in Meriano and Latella’s Occupational Therapy Interventions (2007, 2016); “Theories of Aging” in Coppola, Elliott, and Toto’s Strategies to Advance Gerontology Excellence (2008); and “Theory Development” in Jacobs and MacRae’s Occupational Therapy Essentials for Clinical Competence, Third Edition (2017). Marli is currently working on a grant to study self-management for lower back pain, and has enjoyed presenting results of her productive aging study with coauthor Karen Macdonald. She and her husband, Marty, love sailing, snorkeling, and traveling, especially cruises. They are at home in Stratford, Connecticut, and Freeport, Bahamas.