GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY
The notes below are for people considering joining a therapy group, and give an idea of what I think it involves, and how I approach facilitating a group. Most problems that we experience in life, and that bring us to counselling or therapy, have as a basic common difficulty that of making and maintaining close and satisfying relationships with others. In a therapy group we have the opportunity to explore how we relate to others and the difficulties we experience in this, and to experiment with making changes. The group is a kind of ‘social laboratory’ for us to do that. The insight and changes we make can then be transferred to our relationships with others in our lives outside the group. I base my style of working in this group 'arena', on the ideas and methodology of the American psychotherapist, Irving Yalom, the early TA writings of the founder of Transactional Analysis (originally conceived as a group therapy), Eric Berne, and the relational psychoanalysts Mitchell and Aron.
One of the main advantages of group therapy is that there are several other people to explore and experiment with (compared with only one!). In this setting we can explore ‘live’ with others as opposed to just talking about it, and experiment with behaving differently at the time if we choose to do so.
Sometimes we may experience an impulse to withdraw, to hide or to avoid our experience or contact with others in the group, and respond in an old, familiar way. I think that this is likely to be the way we took care of ourselves in the past, and important to acknowledge this within the group. We can then talk, when ready, about our difficulty, and how we may want to explore and change our experience.
As the main focus in the group is the relationships between us, I work to keep this the main focus. However, it is fine with me for you to bring issues from your life outside the group. In doing so I will be looking for how you can do this in a way that links with others in the group. It will also be possible to work with me on things in a way that is similar to individual sessions.
(based on ideas by Jim Davis)
New Fortnightly Therapy Group
at The South Manchester Centre for Psychotherapy Starting Feb 4th 2010
Thursdays 7-9pm.
Facilitated by Hayley Marshall
This group is intended to be an ideal opportunity for people to experiment with new ways of relating to others.
It will offer potential for ‘live’ experiencing and working through of personal issues within a supportive framework of a group setting.
Maximum of 6 members
£25 per session
(payment is required for your place in the group whether you attend all sessions or not)
click here to inquire about joining or tel 07540 303 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 07540 303 end_of_the_skype_highlighting 536
Please note I will ask you to attend some (usually between 4-6)individual therapy sessions prior to you joining the group in order for us to build a working relationship, and to establish what you are wanting from the group.
