We are not alone
Group therapy is a psychotherapy method where a certain number of individuals experiencing similar problems come together to help themselves and other participants under the guidance of one or two expert therapists.
In group therapy, the goal is to develop skills for resolving life difficulties and problems, just as in individual therapy. Clients work together to meet both their individual and group needs.
Additionally, being in a group environment facilitates a person's understanding that their problems are not theirs alone, that others experience similar issues, and helps them solve problems related to social relationships by receiving the social support they need in the process.
Therapy goals range from supporting participants' personal development to improving psychiatric illnesses, depending on the type and structure of the group.
Benefits of Group Therapy
Group therapies, in a safe environment where others are present, allow clients to express their own problems and experiences;
- their sharing of experiences with each other,
- to learn from each other's experiences,
- to acquire new social skills by modeling each other,
- By interacting with different people, they adopt different attitudes and behaviors,
- This allows them to transfer these into their own lives by having the opportunity to try and test them within a group.
In this context, the therapeutic factors of group therapies can be listed as follows.
- Instilling hope,
- Universality,
- Additive information (obtaining information about the process from the therapist or group members),
- Behavior development through identification and imitation,
- Don't be selfless.,
- The repetition of primary family characteristics in the group and its reparative nature,
- The development of socialization techniques,
- Reciprocal learning,
- Group affiliation,
- Catharsis (emotional release),
- Existential factors (facing existential realities such as death, loneliness, the meaning of life, responsibility, etc.).
Rapid Progress with Group Dynamics
Types of Group Therapy
Group therapies generally;
- Based on duration: short-term or long-term psychotherapy groups,
- According to purpose; development group, therapy group, encounter group, T-group, personal-social skills development group, family/couple groups, trauma groups, healing partnership (cancer, diabetes, etc. patient) groups, substance addiction (Alcoholics Anonymous, etc.) groups,
- By approach types: analytical, dynamic, systemic/family, behavioral, cognitive, Gestalt, TA, expressive/psychodrama, and art therapy, etc.
- According to the group structure; they can be classified as homogeneous or heterogeneous psychotherapy groups.
Unlike individual therapy, a sense of belonging and togetherness is intensely experienced in group therapy. In group therapies, because group dynamics and transference activate interpersonal interaction processes, psychological conflicts surface much more easily than in individual therapies, and opportunities arise to work on them. Therefore, depending on the situation, faster progress and economy are achieved in group therapies.
Source: Irvin D. Yalom (1992). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, Trans. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ataman Tangör, Dr. Özgür Karaçam, Istanbul: Nobel Tıp.