Overview: Effective psychoeducation can be key in enhancing constituent empowerment and advocacy; however, many social workers and social work students are not taught how to present psychoeducational material effectively. This presentation will address strategies and techniques of how to effectively teach psychoeducation materials in virtual and in-person settings.Proposal text: Psychoeducation is a professionally delivered treatment modality which integrates therapeutic and educational interventions. Participants are considered partners in the psychoeducational process and it is based on the present and is strengths focused (Lukens & McFarlane, 2004). The goals of psychoeducation are to: increase insight and knowledge about content area, empower constituents, increase collaboration with others, increase coping skills, and enact positive behavioral change (Vreeland, 2012). Psychoeducation is an effective method to support constituent empowerment and advocacy-based perceptions, feelings, and actions (Chiocchi et al., 2019; Gibbons et al., 2016; Midgett et al., 2015; van Dyck et al., 2021). The primary social work roles of advocate, educator, counselor (enabler), and facilitator (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2019) are directly pertinent to the provision of psychoeducational interventions. Psychoeducation is also a core component of many evidence-based approaches to treat health and behavioral problems (Lukens et al., 2014). Some of these evidence-based psychoeducational approaches have been converted into virtual modules and provided online to clients (Hepburn et al., 2020; Reins et al., 2019) and psychoeducation interventions are increasingly delivered online to individuals and groups (Wilkerson et al., 2020). Social workers providing psychoeducation need to be competent in two main dimensions: knowledge and skills in the organization and delivery of psychoeducation, and specific knowledge/expertise about the content of the psychoeducational group (Burlingame et al., 2007). Social work instructors need to be competent in at least the first dimension, the effective delivery of psychoeducation interventions. Most leaders of psychoeducational groups have content expertise; however, many lack knowledge and skills in the delivery of psychoeducation—including social workers (Sands & Solomon, 2004). For example, the widely used Groups textbook by Toseland & Rivas (2017) describes educational groups as core groups, however, the text gives no guidance on how to provide these groups effectively (delivery competency). This presentation will address strategies and techniques of how to effectively deliver psychoeducational content to enhance constituent empowerment and advocacy including: organization and structure, modifications for target population, group/classroom management skills, engagement techniques, and content application and homework approaches. The emphasis of this presentation will be on the practical implementation of effective psychoeducational skills in both in-person and virtual settings.
Learning Objectives:
1. Upon completion, participants will be able to describe how psychoeducation can be utilized to enhance constituent empowerment and advocacy.
2. Upon completion, participants will be able to describe the difference between psychoeducation content competency and delivery competency.
3. Upon completion, participants will be able to demonstrate 2 effective psychoeducational engagement techniques and how these can be implemented virtually or in-person.