Group
Counseling
What is group therapy?
Why do we recommend group therapy?
How is group therapy helpful?
What are the different types of group?
What are some of the common misperceptions
about group therapy?
What are the ground rules for participating
in group therapy?
How can I get the most out of my group
therapy?
What is group therapy?
In group therapy, five to eight people meet weekly for 90 minute
sessions with one or two trained group therapists and talk about
what is troubling them. Rules are established to maintain a
safe, supportive, and confidential environment. Members also
give feedback to each other by expressing their own reactions
about what someone says or does. This interaction affords group
members opportunities to try out new ways of behaving and to
learn more about the way they interact with others. Group therapy
is confidential: the identity of group members and what members
talk about is not discussed outside the group.
(back to top)
Why is group therapy recommended for
many of the students who come to the Student Counseling Services?
Clinical research clearly indicates that group therapy is equally
effective to individual therapy for many types of problems and
is superior to individual therapy for problems of an interpersonal
nature. The fact is that many of the problems that students
come to the counseling center for have an interpersonal basis,
so that group therapy is really the therapy of choice.
(back to top)
How is group therapy helpful?
Many clients have in common the basic difficulty of establishing
and maintaining close, healthy, and gratifying relationships
with others. Group serves as a social laboratory in which honest
interpersonal exploration can be done in a safe and supportive
environment, and honest feedback can be received from other
group members. When you can understand and work out your relationships
with other members of the group, there is enormous carryover
to your relationships in the outside world.
(back to top)
What are the different types of groups?
In therapy groups, the emphasis
is on change: changing problematic
behaviors, attitudes, and emotions. Participants explore personal
problems and concerns with a group of persons who have had similar
experiences. Discussion includes both present issues and troubling
past events and the negative consequences of those events. Therapy
groups are safe, confidential, and supportive environments to
work through problems,heal old hurts, express emotions, learn
more about yourself, receive feedback on how others perceive
you, and acquire more effective interpersonal behaviors. Therapy
groups meet weekly, year round, with short breaks at the end
of each semester.
In support groups, the emphasis
is on coping more adaptively
with current difficult situations. Participants give and receive
support, learn more effective coping skills, share information,
and talk with other persons who are experiencing similar circumstances.
Discussion focuses strictly on current events and coping with
those events. Support groups are safe, confidential, supportive,
and affirming environments, and meet weekly for one semester
at a time.
In psychoeducational groups,
the emphasis is on education and skill
development. Participants engage in semi-structured discussions
and exercises, role-play, and giving and receiving feedback,
with the group leader functioning as a teacher, trainer, and
facilitator. The focus is on acquiring information, learning
new skills, and refining existing skills pertaining to a specific
topic. Psychoeducational groups meet weekly for 2 to 8 weeks
depending on the topic.
(back to top)
What are some of the common misperceptions
about group therapy?
• “I will be forced to tell all of my deepest thoughts,
feelings and secrets to the group."
No one will force you to reveal your deepest, most personal
thoughts. You control what, how much, and when you share with
the group. Most people find that when they feel safe enough
to share what is troubling them, a group can be very helpful
and affirming. We encourage you not to share what you are not
ready to disclose. However, you can also be helped by listening
to others and thinking about how what they are saying might
apply to you.
• "Group therapy will take longer than individual
therapy, because I will have to share the time with others."
Actually, group therapy is often more efficient than individual
therapy for two reasons. First, you can benefit from the group
even during sessions when you say little, but listen carefully
to others. You will find that you have much in common with other
group members, and as they work on a concern, you can learn
more about yourself. Secondly, group members will often bring
up issues that strike a chord with you, but which you might
not have been aware of or brought up yourself.
• "I will be verbally attacked by the leaders and
by other group members."
It is very important that group members feel safe. Group leaders
are there to help develop a safe environment. Feedback is often
difficult to hear. As group members come to trust and accept
one another, they generally experience feedback and even confrontation
as positive, as if it were coming from their best friend. One
of the benefits of group therapy is the opportunity to receive
feedback from others in a supportive environment. It is rare
to find friends who will gently point out how you might be behaving
in ways that hurt yourself or others, but this is precisely
what group can offer. This will be done in a respectful, gentle
way, so that you can hear it and make use of it.
• "Group therapy is second-best to individual therapy."
Group therapy is being recommended to you because your intake
counselor believes that it is the best way to address your concerns.
We do not put people into group therapy because we don't have
space in individual therapy, or because we want to save time.
We recommend group when it is the most effective method to help
you. Your intake counselor can discuss with you why group is
what we recommend for you.
• "I have so much trouble talking to people, I'll
never be able to share in a group."
Most people are anxious about being able to talk in group. Almost
without exception, within a few sessions people find that they
do begin to talk in the group. Group members remember what it
is like to be new to the group, so you will most likely get
a lot of support for beginning to talk in the group.
(back to top)
What are the ground rules for participating
in group therapy?
If group is to be effective, your commitment to the following
is essential:
• The group sessions are confidential. The identity of
the members of the group and what they say in group is not
to be talked about with anyone outside the group at any time.
• Attend regularly and punctually. If you are going to
miss a session or be late, please let one of the leaders of
the group know.
• While you are a member of a group, we ask that you
not socialize with other members outside of group. This affects
the safety of the group environment.
• Mutual respect is essential to maintaining the safety
of the group. It is okay to disagree with others. It is not
okay to treat other members disrespectfully.
• Having a feeling and acting on it are two different
actions. Acting out your feelings in group is not acceptable,
whether you act them out upon yourself or on another member.
The way we most respect ourselves and others is by experiencing
our feelings and then talking about them.
• It is your responsibility to talk about your reasons
for being in the group as honestly as you are able.
• If you decide to leave group, because you have met
your goals for treatment or because it isn't the most appropriate
treatment method for you, we ask that you come to the group
and say good-bye.
(back to top)
How can I get the most out of my
group therapy?
• attend regularly…in joining the group, you have
made a commitment to the other group members as well as to
yourself.
• make the group part of your life…don’t think
of group as something that happens once a week and then forget
about it in between. Between group sessions, think about what
happened in group and about how you felt during and after
group, and try to figure out why you had those feelings.
• take responsibility for your counseling and your group…it’s
your group, so if it is not moving in the direction you want,
say so.
• participate actively…you will make more progress
if you get actively involved in the group discussions.
• experiment with new forms of behavior…until you
begin to act differently, you won’t change.
• take some risks in group…it is structured to be
safe and supportive.
• be as honest and open as you are able in group…it
allows other group members to get to know who you really are.
• speak in the first person…speaking in the first
person makes what you say much more personal and powerful.
• accept responsibility for your own experience and allow
other to be responsible for theirs…don’t foster
dependency by assuming responsibility for others in the group.
• learn to listen to others attentively…if you are
formulating your response while someone else is speaking,
you are not really hearing what is being said.
• learn to differentiate between thoughts and feelings…when
you say “I feel that…”, or “I feel like…”,
you are moving away from expressing feelings to expressing
thoughts.
• speak directly to individuals in the group rather than
about them to others.
• be honest and direct with your feelings in group in
the present moment, especially your feelings toward other
group members and the therapists.
• be spontaneous…often we wait our turn to speak,
try to be polite, or think about what we want to say for so
long that the moment to say it has passed.
• be specific and direct with your feedback
• share both positive and negative
• don’t give advice and suggestions
• don’t try to solve other member’s problems
for them
• don’t blame or judge others
• be respectful even when you don’t agree with a
person’s position or behavior
• phrase your feedback so it is about your experience
of the other person, and not a judgment of how they are
• ask for feedback when you need it…seek clarification
and avoid becoming defensive or making excuses.
If you have an interest in any of these groups or want information
about other groups we might be able to offer, please call
266-4829 or e-mail our Groups Coordinator at: Sidne.Buelow@usm.edu.
(back to top)
|
