“People need people – for initial and for continued survival, for socialization, for the pursuit of satisfaction. No one – not the dying, not the outcast, not the mighty – transcends the need for human contact.”
— Irvin Yalom
Group Therapy
Group therapy can help you achieve your goals, whether your goal is growth, improving social skills, or something else.
What is Group Therapy?
Group therapy or group counseling involves one or two mental health professionals and two or more people receiving therapy. Many people use group therapy to address a specific mental health concern. The dynamic of the group helps people feel supported as they grow and move forward.
Isn’t Therapy Difficult?
Group therapy can be intimidating and difficult at times, especially when dealing with sensitive issues like trauma or abuse and deciding whether you can trust others with your struggle. However, because you are creating relationships not just with the therapist, the potential for healing is often freeing and life-changing.
What’s the Purpose?
Group therapy is a powerful way to connect with others who struggle with similar mental and emotional conditions and receive guidance from a licensed therapist. You can benefit from the support of the group while also learning on a deep level that you are not alone in your struggle.
How Therapy Can Help
Group therapy might seem scary at first, but it becomes much easier over time. Those who do their best to engage fully in group sessions are the ones who get the most out of group therapy. You’ll experience many different perspectives that create opportunities for more powerful feedback, exploration and experimentation.
Group Therapy Basics
If you have doubts about group therapy, here’s some information to help you make the best decision for your well-being.
What to Expect
Group therapy typically has the members meet for one to two hours each week and address specific concerns shared by the group members. At first, group members may introduce themselves, discuss their progress, or share the reason they are in group therapy. Depending on the group, you may be given some specific content or you may be given free rein to discuss issues with your group members.
Learn to Listen
The main theory behind group therapy is that group members learn from seeing others work. People learn from watching others deal with their issues. We are much better able to see how these issues affect us and how we can access the same solutions if we see them externalized in someone else. Not only will you benefit from watching others, but you will improve your listening and empathy skills.
Approaches
As discussed before, groups will be structured differently depending on the approach. There are two main approaches for group therapy: process-oriented and educational. For the former, the goal is to focus on the experience of being in a group setting, building each member’s sense of self-confidence. Educational groups seek to give group members the skills they’ll need to be successful in their daily lives.
Understand Yourself
Another positive aspect about group therapy is that the more people there are, the more emotional bonds you are able to build. The idea here is that you’ll constantly be working on your ability to express and tolerate strong emotions in yourself and in others. Through relating to others, you’ll better understand yourself and your place in the world, and you will find more success in your real relationships.
Confidentiality
Before beginning, all group members agree to protect the identities of fellow members in the group. They must also keep the content of each session confidential. Unless permission is given, nobody should discuss another member’s personal history with anyone else. Of course, therapists are bound by law to report members who announce they will hurt themselves or another person, but this is standard in all types of therapy.
Therapeutic Insight
Finally, by attending group therapy, you are giving your therapist a special insight into your life. Your therapist can see you in a social environment rather than relying on your own accounts, which might be biased. By watching you interact organically, your therapist will be much better suited to address your concerns and give you guidance that will truly help you take what you’ve learned into real-world settings.
Reasons You Should Consider Group Therapy
If any of the following symptoms prevent you from enjoying your daily life, you might benefit from therapy to address these issues.
Substance Use
Substance abuse is a common reason to seek group therapy. In group therapy, people are often able to meet others who have either had their own substance abuse issues or have dealt closely with someone who has. Here, you can not only receive a chance to address your problematic use with insight from your therapist, but you’ll also gain some real-world insight from people who have been in your shoes.
Eating Disorders
Eating disorders can be harrowing conditions for many people. Due to the stigma surrounding anorexia and bulimia, many people who suffer from eating disorders are afraid of sharing the issues they experience for fear of being judged. However, group therapy can help those individuals meet other people who have learned to live with their illness and have found ways to enjoy a healthy, positive lifestyle.
Abuse
Those who have survived abuse or trauma are great candidates for group therapy. Group therapy focuses on shining a light on our problems, and though it may sound counterintuitive, a group of strangers is the perfect setting to share your troubles. Since they don’t know you, they can listen without judgement. You might also be encouraged from learning about others who have moved on from a similar situation.
Grief & Loss
After losing a loved one, the world feels empty, without meaning and full of despair. Many people report feeling as if nobody could ever understand how they feel. But that’s not true—many people lose loved ones, and it’s equally devastating. The good news is that they are able to work through it with some support. You’ll be able to meet people like this and learn from them about how to manage your grief after a loss.
Anger
Managing your anger can be a difficult task for some of us. Being in a group forces you to hone your social skills and learn, in real time, how your anger shapes your mental health and how you can manage it in order to achieve social success. In group therapy, you’ll meet others who have worked through their anger issues and have come out on the other side with valuable insights to share with you.
Anxiety
Chronic worry can keep you from doing many things which you would otherwise want to do, like go out with friends, apply for a new job, or even go to the grocery store. Group therapy can help you realize that, for better or worse, most people aren’t focusing on you, and this realization often gives people a sense of freedom that relieves some of the worry they experience on a day-to-day basis.
Is Group Therapy Effective?
Based on the research, group therapy can be incredibly effective for depression. In 2014, researchers analyzed what happened when individuals with depression received group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Researchers found that 44% of the patients reported significant improvements.
Another study from the American Psychological Association (APA) reveals that group therapy is just as effective as individual therapy. Individual therapy has its perks, of course, but group therapy has positive benefits that you can’t get in individual therapy.
The research is clear: the most effective groups have a common identity and a sense of shared purpose. As individual members improve, the group as a whole benefits, because seeing the progress others make can help group members realize they can also cope and feel better.
