Reflective practice

Aims of the session:

• explore an experience at work through writing and discussion
• reflect on the experience with reference to a reflective practice group

Expectations of working together

• maintain an awareness of being in an open space and being new to each other
• respect each other’s experience
• only share what you feel comfortable with
• in relation to confidentiality, the learning can be taken away but the details of what has been shared remain behind.

This is a brief reflective writing exercise for a group of individuals to do
together. The session should take an hour and is best carried out in groups of
five to twelve people. It is a participatory experience, the more you put into it
the more you will get out of it.

This session has drawn on ideas from Bolton, G. (2010) Reflective practice:
writing and professional development. Third edition. London: Sage Publications

Instructions

1. Take a minute to think of something at work that has stayed with you. It may be an incident, an interaction, an event or something related to team dynamics. It may be with a patient, a patient’s family member or a colleague. Don’t try to think too much, simply go with the first things that comes to mind.
2. What’s the feeling? Jot down two words on your piece of paper. Then, turn your paper over.
3. Now, put your pen to paper and write for 10 minutes. Don’t take the pen off the paper, keep writing about the thing you have chosen to think about. Write about it in as much detail as possible and consider the following questions – it doesn’t have to be in order and don’t worry about punctuation or spelling.

• Who said what?
• What happened?
• Who else was there?
• What did it feel like at different points
• What did you think was going to happen. What did happen?
• What was the build up?
• What happened afterwards?

4. Read what you have written. What do you notice about what you have written? What strikes you? What surprises you?
5. Move into pairs and talk to the person next to you. You are interested in the other person’s writing, not them! Please ask questions of each other and see how far you get, taking it in turns to answer the following questions.

• What might the other characters in the narrative be thinking or feeling?
• What has been missed out of this story?
• Are there themes or patterns that relate to your working life?
• Do you have a question for anyone in your story? What is the question and what might they have replied?
• How might you understand the feelings generated in this story?
• Explore the area that puzzles you. What is it about this that puzzles you?
• How would a friend/colleague tell the story? What would be different?

6. How did you find the writing exercise?
7. What is the feeling now? Jot down two words. Are they different to your initial feeling about your event or incident?
8. What one thing will you take away; a thought, an action, a feeling?

Adlam, J. (2016). “Not keeping it in the family” A mentalisation-based approach to facilitating reflective practice groups for multi-disciplinary staff teams in forensic settings. Paper presented at International association for Forensic Psychiatry, Belgium. 

Adlam, J. (2019) “Scallywag battalions”: reflective practice groups with multidisciplinary teams in mental health and social care systems. Organisational and social dynamics 19 (2) pp. 168-185

Adshead G (2012) Mirror, mirror: parallel processes in forensic institutions. In Adlam J, Aiyegbusi A, Kleinot P, et al. (2012) The Therapeutic Milieu under Fire: Security and Insecurity in Forensic Mental Health (pp.97–115). London: Jessica Kingsley Publications.

Argent, K. (2008) ‘What’s happening? Some thoughts on the experience of being in a work discussion group’in Rustin, M. & Bradley, J. (eds) (2008) Work discussion: Learning from reflective practice in work with children and families. London: Karnac.

Armstrong, D. and Rustin, M. (Eds) (2015) Social Defences Against Anxiety: Explorations in a Paradigm. London: Karnac Books

Bolton, G. (2010) Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development. Third edition. London: Sage Publications

Bolton, W. and Roberts, V. (1994) ‘Asking for help – Staff support and sensitivity groups reviewed.’ in The unconscious at work Obholzer, A. and Roberts, V. (Eds) London: Routledge

Brooks, O. (2014) ‘Race and our evasions of invitations to think: how identifications and idealisations may prevent us from thinking.’ in Thinking Space: promoting thinking about race, culture and diversity in psychotherapy and beyond. Lowe, F. (eds). London: Karnac Books

Caldwell, L. and Grobbel, C. (2013) The importance of reflective practice in nursing. International journal of Caring Sciences. Vol 6, (3) pp. 319-326

Cardona, F. (1999) The team as a sponge: how the nature of the task affects the behaviour and the mental life of the team. In R. French and R. Vince (eds) Group Relations, Management and Organisation. Pp. 239-250.

Davey, B., Byrne, S., Millear, P., Dawber, C. and Medoro, L. Exploring the impact of reflective practice groups for nurses in an acute hospital setting. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing 38 (1), pp. 6-17

Dawber, C. (2019) Reflective practice groups for nurses: A consultation liaison psychiatry nursing initiative: Part 1 – the model.International Journal of Mental Health Nursing (2013) 22, pp. 135–144

Foster, A. (2001) The duty to care and the need to split. Journal of social work practice, 15, (1), pp. 81-90.

Gibbs G (1988). Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit. Oxford Polytechnic: Oxford.

Hartland-Rowe, L. (2005) Teaching and observing in work discussion.  International Journal of Infant Observation, Volume 8 Number 1

Hartley, P. and Kennard, D. (2009) Staff Support in the Helping Professions: Principles, practice and Pitfalls. Hove: Routledge

Kember, D.  (ed). (2001) Reflective teaching and learning in the health professions: action research in professional education, Oxford: Blackwell Science.

Kurtz, A. (2020) How to run reflective practice groups: a guide for healthcare professionals. London: Routledge.

Lowe, F. (Ed.)(2014) Thinking space: promoting thinking about race, culture, and diversity in psychotherapy and beyond. London: Karnac Books

Mawson, C. (1994) ‘Work with damaged children’. in The unconscious at work. Obholzer, A. and Roberts, V. London: Routledge

Menzies Lyth, I. (1988) Containing anxiety in Institutions: Selected essays, Volume 1. London: Free Association Books

Milton, J. and Davison, S. (1997) Observations of staff-support groups with limited external facilitation in a psychiatric institution, In Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Vol 11 (2), pp. 135-145.

Min Ooi, S., Coker, S. and Fisher, P. (2023) Clinical psychologists’ experience of cultivating reflective practice in trainee clinical psychologists during supervision: a qualitative study. Reflective Practice, 24:4, pp. 481-495

Moon, J.  (2004) Experiential learning and reflective learning: drawing it together chp 9 in Jennifer Moon (2004) A Handbook of Reflective and Experience Learning: Theory and practice. Routledge Farmer.

Nursing Times (2015) Realising the benefits of reflective practice, accessed 17 October 2024.

O’Sullivan N. (2018) Creating space to think and feel in child protection social work; a psychodynamic intervention, Journal of Social Work Practice, 14, pp. 1-11.

O’Sullivan, N., Patterson, D., & Kennedy, A. (2022). Anchoring social care and social work practice in structured reflection: introducing a model of group reflective practice. Journal of Social Work Practice, 36(2), 179–193. 

Obholzer, A. and Roberts, V. (Eds) (2019) The unconscious at work: The Tavistock approach to making sense of organisational life. Second Edition. London: Routledge

Paget, T. (2001) Reflective practice and clinical outcomes: practitioners’ views on how reflective practice has influenced their clinical practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 10: pp. 204-214

Patel, K. and Metersky, K. (2022) Reflective practice in nursing: a concept analysis. International Journal of Nursing Knowledge. 33, pp. 180-187 

Pedler, M. (2012) Action Learning in Practice 4^th Ed. London: Routledge Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Ruch, G., 2007. ‘Thoughtful’ practice: Child care social work and the role of case discussion. Child & Family Social Work, 12(4), pp.370-379

Rustin, M. (2008). Work discussion. Rustin, M. and Bradley, J. (Eds) London: Karnac Books

Scanlon, C. (2012). The traumatised-organisation-in-the-mind: opening up space for difficult conversations in difficult places. In A. Aiyesbusi, P. Kleinot, A. Motz, C. Scanlon, J. Adlam (2012) The therapeutic milieu under fire: security and insecurity in forensic mental health. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 

Schön, D. (1983) The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. London: Temple Smith

Staempfli, A. & Fairtlough, A. (2019). Intervision and professional development: an exploration of a peer-group reflection method in social work education. British Journal of Social Work. 49, pp. 1254- 1273

Stokes, J. (1994) ‘The unconscious at work in groups and teams.’ in The unconscious at work Obholzer, A. and Roberts, V. (Eds) London: Routledge

Sundgren, M., Millear, P., Dawber, C. and Medoro, L. (2021) Reflective practice groups and nurse professional quality of life. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing. 38 (4) pp. 49-61

Tobin, O’Sullivan & Rogers (2024) You go in heavy and you come out light: An interpretive phenomenological analysis of reflective practice experiences in an Irish infant Mental Health Setting. Infant Mental Health Journal, Vol 45(4), 411-437.

Webster, N., Doggett, L., & Gardner, S. (2020). If you want to change the world you have to start with yourself: The impact of staff reflective practice within the offender personality disorder pathway. Probation Journal, 67(3), 283-296. 

Wojociechowska, E. (2009) ‘Managing personal and professional boundaries.’ in Staff support groups in the helping professions. Principles, practice and pitfalls. Hartley, P. and Kennard, D. Hove: Routledge