“Get Groupy!”

I really enjoy being an individual therapist.  I like the personal and intensive nature of individual therapy.   Whether the sessions are in person or virtual, a one-on-one session with a client can be a very powerful medium for growth and change.  There really is nothing quite like working with or participating in traditional therapeutic mono e mono relationships.

With the above said, I believe groups can be just as, if not more, influential for client growth.  I am a teacher at heart.  My goal right out of high school was to be a teacher. I studied education in college and began working in the field as soon as I graduated.  I taught for 8 years.  I worked with very difficult populations.  In some of these positions, I had to become an expert in lesson planning and content delivery.  Anything less and my desire to transmit learning was diminished.  After I left education, I embarked on a number of other endeavors.   Somehow, I always found a way to weave education into what I was doing.  As a therapist now, I am doing the same thing.

Groups are awesome!  As a leader, not much fills me with more joy than seeing clients light up and respond in a group setting.  Groups are an excellent vehicle to deliver safe spaces to process issues along with camaraderie.  I think participants in groups are often unaware of the impact the group experience is having on them.  Groups, by the very nature of their dynamic often stick with clients in a way that individual therapy cannot always.  In a group you are getting to know others.  Some of these people may be similar but also very different.  These sorts of dynamics light up the brain in unique ways.  There are all sorts of interesting neurological events happening during a group session.  Reading each other’s experience – noting responses – witnessing body language and others engagement … this all registers in the brain.  As a participant in groups in the past, I can still remember the words and behaviors of other clients as if it were just the other day.

Generally, two things happen in the group setting.  Groups process.  Processing is basically manifesting in either thought or words (spoken aloud) the present time experience.  Processing can involve engaging with memories, planning, expression, evaluation, judging, questioning, speculation, and a host of other events.  Processing can occur as a response to a prompt given by the group facilitator.  Processing can also occur as a response to other group members’ participation in the group.  The other primary component of groups is “psychoeducation”.  This is exactly what it sounds like.  Education that includes psychological content.

Processing is a great group dynamic.  Listening to what other group members say resonates greatly.  Psychoeducation not only often resonates but spawns learning new information.  One of the most common pieces of feedback I get from group participants is their appreciation for taught psychological content.  They tend to “eat up” even the most casual “lectures”.  I truly geek out when I see a client pull out a notepad and start writing in response to the material covered.  My personal teacher neural network lights up big time.  The content does not always have to be deep and personal.  I often cover basic “psych 101” content.  I also use diagrams and visual examples to deliver education.  Many clients draw the diagrams with the intention (I hope) to review outside of the group and further process.

Group therapy can be an integral part of psychological growth and development.  There is simply no substitute for a therapeutic group experience.  In vivo (real life) group experience is dynamic and novel.  The day-to-day experience group members often trump best laid plans bring with them.  In today’s world – more than any time before – people complain of disconnect though in some ways we are more connected than ever.  I believe the group experience can break down the barriers of disconnect and quickly establish familiarity with our fellow humans.  Groups give people who might not otherwise meet, a chance to meld and co-experience.  In our current societal state, groups serve such an important function that there may not be a better way to communicate or learn from one another out there.