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Group therapy promotes recovery through experiences of connection in a therapeutic community.

In group you observe yourself and others, notice unhelpful patterns, and practice new ones.

A variety of therapeutic groups can help reduce isolation, decrease shame and stigma, and cultivate hope.

More mental health professionals should consider training in and providing group therapies.

You should go to group therapy. I currently generally make a living by providing individual therapy and l still urge most people to consider giving some form of group therapy a shot.

Why Try Group Therapy?

Relationships are necessary for recovery. Isolation is a major contributor to hopelessness and connection is the way out of isolation. Connection facilitates hope and the struggle to cultivate hope is essential to recovery.

In your everyday life, you interact with non-clinicians on a far more regular basis than you meet with any kind of professional. Group therapy directly incorporates the interactions between group members to promote a process of positive change, which means everyone gains real experience using non-professional interactions for mutual growth.

A great deal of folks who pursue some form of therapy discover (or have validated) that in addition to things like depression and anxiety, there are also interpersonal problems which originate and/or exacerbate symptoms of mental health conditions. The treatment for such problems requires meaningful interpersonal practice.

Process group therapies that focus on relationships have inherent potential gains in helping with emotional regulation (Flores & Porges, 2017), a common interest for people seeking therapy.

In addition to everyday supportive interactions (which are also essential for recovery and personal growth), group psychotherapy is a distinct form of interaction where the group’s purpose, framework, and leaders are meant to facilitate connection that is uniquely and intentionally productive for treatment, meaning it includes active interventions that facilitate greater vulnerability and risk-taking, emotional richness, and interpersonal feedback.

A Very Brief History of Therapeutic Community

Dating back as early as the 1940s, the field of psychiatry began to treat relationships and community as an essential part of what makes treatment work, and leading........

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