From the Editor

Among the exciting ideas running through this special issue of Social Work with Groups are the many advantages of using creative arts to help people to connect, overcome stigma, create meaning, and give voice.

Guest editors Jennifer Clements and Kathleen Walsh have done us all a service by mining the group work practice field to find many of the hidden gems contained in this collection. The 13 articles include wonderful illustrations of groups that use drawing, journaling, painting, sculpture, film, origami, theater, hip-hop, and more.

One of the important influences on the birth of social work with groups was the early-20^th-century recreation movement. It represented a celebration of the whole person, tapping into people’s capacity rather than their deficits, and supporting the individual’s right to experience the “deep delight” of participation in a creative and democratic group (Breton, 1990; Coyle, 1947/1955). This collection captures that spirit beautifully.

In describing the use of program (activities) in social work with groups, Ruth Middleman (1981) captured the essence of group work and the arts. Program, she said, is “the group’s breath, its expressiveness… Like the sorcerer’s apprentice, it can get out of hand and do its own thing. But it is a vital sign, at the core of group life … Some discipline and control must be exerted over its expression, but we can’t restrain it for long” (p. 190).

During a tour at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, I recall one of the docents describing Jackson Pollack’s paintings as “a complex dialogue between orchestration and improvisation.” Naturally, I thought about the synchronicity between this description and what can happen in a well-planned and facilitated group; the artful blending of the rational and spontaneous. As the guest editors state in their introduction to this collection, “group work itself is an art” that can be just as an evocative as a great painting, photograph, play or concert that induces feelings of joy, passion, outrage, and grief.

Many thanks to my guest editors Jen and Kat and all the authors; and especially those authors who struggled through to the end to have their voices projected in print, maybe for the first time. Congratulations to you! And, as always, my sincerest wish is that they will lead the way for more of you to write about your experiences so that more hidden gems will be revealed.