I appreciated the way this chapter named and distinguished between three different "types" of groups - remedial, supportive, and psychoeducational. At my field placement last year at Abington High School, I ran two groups (one social skills group with special needs students and one coping skills group with emotional support students). I felt like I had a good handle of leadership skills and establishing group rapport/relationships, but I sometimes got lost in the purpose and goals of the group. It would have been helpful for me to frame/categorize the groups or specific sessions as one of these "types."
Something that my supervisor taught me in running these groups was that she always liked to start by posing the question, "Was this week better or worse than last week and why?" I found this to be very helpful in bringing everyone together and orienting group members to the session, building general rapport/familiarity, and sometimes it provided a starting point for a bigger discussion. Moving forward, I will always start groups off with a similar broad question to orient everyone to time/space.