Hey,
I've never had group therapy before, but you hear of people coming out of it finding it really beneficial and different to one-on-one therapy.
It's got to be quite scary and weird, starting something like that, but you won't really know how it is until you go there & try it out. :)
Good luck with everything, and I hope someone else can reply with some personal knowledge & experience.
Look after yourselfff, xx
I guess it depends what the therapy is focussing on.
I've had group therapy for ab*se, and it's ok, actually. It's "conforting" in a way to know you're not the only one to have gone through those things and felt the same way about them. It opens your eyes to the fact that you're not alone.
Good luck with it. xxx
For those doubts that swirl all around us
For those lives that tear at the seams
We know… we’re not what we’ve seen
For this dance we’ll move with each other
There ain’t no other step than one foot
Right in front of the other
I did a few different types of group therapy, the only one I found any use was CBT but i still definitley prefer it one-on-one. It could just be because I find it hard opening up to people, though. Also, the group I was in had people with a whole variety of problems, so it wasn't just focused on self harm or whatever, I think I would've got more out of it if it was just because it was a bit all over the place! But it's nice to meet people in similar situations to yours (i made some great friends there!) and hopefully it will be helpful for you :]
Ah group therapy. It will depend on what the psychologist running it wants to focus on. Some want to get straight to the point. Others will try to avoid self harm/eating disorders etc completely.
It does help like the others said to know that your not the only one there with problems, helps overcome the lonely i'm the only one feeling you sometimes get if you got help one on one.
Guess it helps to know which will benefit you the most though =]
Good luck with the group therapy by the way.
What sort of group therapy are you starting?
I do DBT and the group is abut learning skills about how to deal with every day life and emotions etc and it's run alongside weekly individual sessions. There are 8 of us in the group and i was so scared bere i started and had no idea what to expect.
Although the sessions are really structured, they're kept very informal. We start the group just having a chat really, seeing how everyones week has gone, talking about anything we want to and going over the homework. Then we have a break (fag break basically lol) and sometimes we cook pizzas or get sandwiches or something. After the break we start working properly on the skills we are learning that week, work through handouts and do skills 'exercises' which are usually quite fun!
We're allowed to go take five if things get too much, but no-one does that very often anymore because we're all comortable with each other now. Although it's a really relaxed atmosphere the therapists running the group make sure we're all on topic and keep us in control.
The groups are good because it's nice to meet people who are experiencing similar things to you and are very dierent from one and one sessions where everything is focused on you.
I would definitely reccomend you give it a go. Sorry about the ramblings :S
Feel free to PM me if you've got any questions
Becky xxx
There's nothing here in this heart left to borrow!
Join Date: Sep 2007
I am currently:
firstly hey sppons *waves*
i've just very recently started group therapy, at 1st the idea of it scared me half to death!! but upon going a few times i started to feel more comfortable woth being there etc and therefore a lil easier to talk and now i can honestly say it's helped me enormously i've been in individual threrapy for two years and deffinately feel the benifit of the two together!!
i would say if you are ready within yourself you should deffinately give it a shot, the way i looked at it was what have i got to lose?!
hope my ramblings made sense and have been of some help
if u want to talk more bout it or anything PM me anytime!
*hugs*
take care
good luck with evrythin!
XxX
In my experience I prefer group therapy. I think both individual and group are beneficial when used in connection with each other. I prefer group, because then it's not just me facing someone who has possibly just read about what I am going through and learned through case studies. In group it is easier for me to see that I am not alone.
I have been to two different long term treatment programs. One learning/applying CBT [Cognitive Behavioural Therapy], utilizing group and individual sessions, and the other learning/applying DBT [Dialectial Behavioural Therapy], once again also utilizing group and individual sessions.
I have gone through periods of time where I only met with an individual therapist, which has it's pros and cons. And then I have the periods of time in which I was in group therapy and also saw an individual therapist, whom was connected with the group [mainly in the two treatment programs I was in, but also for a brief time when I was d/c from treatment].
Based on my experiences, I strongly believe that it depends on one's preference. Group can be a bit overwhelming at first..having to get to know the other members of the group well enough to be comfortable sharing with them personal experiences that most will never know. I prefer group, but that is just me. There are pros and cons to both.
Well Wishes
"..Say what you will but I believe in moments like this, they make us matter.
Look in my eyes and tell me you don't believe that I'm right.."
Hi Im in group therapy and have been for 6 mths now. You all sit round together and discuss any problems you faced during the week and then the group trys to help you figure out what triggered certain things etc. I find some sessions quite hard especially when im trying to work on a problem but I realise that this might be my only chance to regain my life and put it into normality so that keeps me going. I found the first 4 mths really good and enjoy talking to other people who have similar problems to mine.
