Basic Fears Of People About Group Therapy

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Group therapy is one of the most common areas in the field of psychological services today. If 10-15 years ago work in a group was more common in work with mono-problems, for example, when working with alcoholism or overweight problems, now the group is formed from completely different people who experience difficulties in various spheres of life. The undeniable advantage of group therapy is cost-effectiveness. But this is far from the only "+". But, unfortunately, many people refuse the opportunity to work in a group because of fears and fears. My article focuses on three of the main fears people have about group therapy.

1. Some people find it very difficult to share their personal problems with others.

In fact, the format of group therapy involves the possibility of working through your problem without telling anyone about it, even a psychologist. You can take the role of an active participant in the discussion of the problems of another group member or the role of an outside observer. Whatever role you define for yourself, the psychotherapeutic process will take place. You will see various ways of getting out of a difficult situation, other ways of solving problems that are unusual for you. You will see your difficulties from “other eyes”. You will enrich your experience with the experience of the group members. At the same time, my experience shows that the participants, who were taciturn and lack of initiative at the first meetings, felt afraid to speak in front of the audience, after some time they were transformed, became more confident, calmly and firmly expressed their position. They could, and so can you.

2. A lot of people are concerned about privacy and security.

In the age of the Internet and social networks, the fear that your story will be published on hundreds of Odnoklassniki and Facebook pages is a factor against attending group therapy for so many people. There are actually several levels of security and responsibility.

- Personal responsibility. The format of the group's work assumes the possibility of participation incognito. You can introduce yourself by a different name, choose a pseudonym, or choose a social role, for example, "I am my husband's wife."

- The responsibility of the group leader. In my groups, it is forbidden to use any audio and video recording devices, as well as to photograph the process of work and group members.

- Group responsibility … Before starting the work of the group, we outline the boundaries and rules or "conclude a contract", within the framework of which each of the participants takes on a voluntary responsibility not to disseminate information about what is happening within the group outside the group.

Not in my experience. None of my colleagues' experience has ever had a single case of "information leakage."

3. Group therapy cannot be effective because there is not enough time to work through each participant.

In fact, group therapy is not only as effective as individual therapy. But it also has a number of advantages, the main of which is the increment of new experience. The opportunity to look at your problem from different angles makes it possible to expand consciousness, a more complete understanding of your situation, growth and change for the better. In addition, you will acquire new methods of behavior and problem solving.