GROUP OR1 ENTATION

Jack Bradford, Marriage Counselor, Third Judicial Circuit of Detroit, Michigan.

Undoubtedly the Orientation Program pro- vides the means through which a minimum number of staff can efficiently reach a large number of people to either build a bridge to the counseling process or to at least reduce a great deal of the emotion laden material related to their divorce action.

To da te we have held ten meetings with a total of 700 people in attendance. On a voluntary b a s i s we find that approximately 10% of the people invited respond by requesting a reservation. Of these, 75% actually attend.

But on the bas i s of those who do attend, the results indicate that the Group Orientation Meet- ings should be considered a mandatory part of the process of filing for a divorce and that couples should attend a meeting within the f i r s t month follow- ir;g the filing. A selection might be qualified to in- clude all couples who have been married less than five years or couples who have minor children. It is a lso felt that these meetings should b e opened to the the community. In a jurisdiction of any population size th is would suggest that meetings would have to be scheduled regularly for it is not practical to ac- comodate more than 250 people in one meeting. Such legislation or court rule would obviously place addi-. tional pressures on the counseling serv ices to either provide larger staffs, be more selective, make a larg- er number of referrals, utilize group intake techniques or move toward groups in counseling, but we are con- vinced that th i s is the direction in which we should move.

Under our present situation up-to-date mail- ing l i s t s , which include both husbands and wives, are hard to come by, even though computer tabs are used. The t i m e and costs of regular mailings could a l so be greatly curtailed or even done away with.

T h e Marriage Counseling Service of the Circuit Court of Wayne County is absol.utely con- vinced that the Orientation Program is an indispens- able part of any court related service and should b e studied, explored and instituted by every forward looking Conciliation Court in the nation.

The Group Orientation program began in Detroit as a pilot project in October 1967. T h e value of such a program has prompted us to continue it to the present, having held approximately ten meetings in the last thirty months.

Group Orientation provides a kind of half- way house to the counseling process. I t is geared to reach out to a l l those couples who have filed for divorce in Wayne County. In terms of the practical problems of a mailing l i s t it relies primarily on the Friend of the Court to provide the necessary infor- mation.

It cons is t s of one voluntary ninety minute sess ion , usually held a t 4:OO p.m., in the auditorium of our City-€ounty Building. In th i s setting the Di- rector of the Marriage Counseling Service, along with several staff m e m b e r s and a Circuit Court Judge, attempt to acquaint couples with a number of options open t o them in seeking solutions to their problems. The Court’s image i s revealed as an interested, ass i s t ing institution rather than an impersonal, puni- t ive Court. A judge, usually the Chairman of the Marriage Counseling Committee, briefly explains his and the Court’s role in domestic relation cases.

A staff counselor explains the role and scope of the Circuit Court Marriage Counseling Serv- ice and encourages couples and individuals to make use of the serv ices available to them. In addition to the Court related serv ices , everyone receives a list of community resources which are a l so open t o them. As a part of th i s presentation a twenty-five minute film s l ide sequence with taped narration is used to introduce them to the counseling process - how it is initiated, what is involved and some possible outcomes.

Following the s l i de presentation, two staff counselors informally answer and d i scuss written or verbal questions raised by the participants. This period provides a therapeutic atmosphere for couples to d iscuss with the counselors and with each other their concerns, frustrations and questions regarding personal problems.

In addition to several pamphlets relating to counseling and divorce, everyone is asked to fill out a response questionnaire which gives people an op- portunity to register their reactions to the meeting.

There has been a unanimous response that the meetings have been helpful. Approximately two thirds of those attending indicate an interest in mar- riage counseling. Interestingly the questionnaire in- d ica tes that , a s a result of the Orientation Meeting, over half come t o question the advisability of con- t,inuing the Court action. Since the questionnaire h a s been revised several times there is no complete s ta t i s t ica l picture of these percentages..