This week I’ve been thinking a lot about power, leadership, and how these notions intersect with age. This comes to mind when I think about the group that Jessi, Bekah, and I started called Café Arts, which came out of a process of brainstorming ideas about how to provide an intermodal space for safe exploration of self as well as build deeper community connection for participants a part of Café Emmanuel. It has been an interesting experience in group process; Café Arts has been held in a collaborative spirit since its inception. From the design of the flier, to the overall structure of the groups, to our co-facilitation, the dynamics, which have existed and continue to blossom among us, have been the central piece of the project for me. This centrality is further emphasized in my mind by the reality that the group participants have been so varied and sparse throughout its time. Bekah, Jessi, and I have been the stable presence throughout and our group leadership has been quite fascinating and dynamic.

As someone who naturally rises to leadership and feels comfortable within that role, I often question whether or not I am taking up too much space within a group. This has come up for me time and time again and has caused me to, at times, shut down completely in group situations where collaboration is needed. I find interesting interpersonal dynamics at play at Café Arts and certainly something I have noticed within my internship team.

The dynamics of power are nuanced and not easy to grasp. I know that as I come to see myself more clearly and the ways in which I utilize my own power, the more effective I can be in working relationships with others. With my co-interns being younger than I, I wonder if there is an unequal power dynamic at play in our working team. I think about the age piece in connection to our Café Arts group, which is comprised of older adults. We have had some participants in their seventies and eighties. Many are fit as fiddles and very well educated and I wonder what their experiences have been being in a group facilitated by such younger individuals. So, my quintessential question is this: How do we as younger folks, sensitive to power and privilege inequities, still assert ourselves as confident facilitators of therapeutic work with older adults? I think one way that I’ve discovered to do this is understanding that a gentle and generous presence is a powerful platform on which trust is built.
— Liana Johannaber