How Psychodynamic Group Therapy Helps
Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash
What is psychodynamic group therapy?
Wherever I suggest group therapy to clients, they tend to respond with disdain.
“Group therapy? People actually do that?”
The next question, asked in conspiratorial tones, comes quickly:
“What do people talk about?”
When I explain the group therapy contract, they appear aghast. Group members are encouraged to put their thoughts and feelings into words toward each other to understand themselves and the others better (a phrase I say so often that I sometimes mutter it in my sleep).
“What kind of feelings?”
…“Love, hate, frustration, attractions…”
“You mean, toward each other?”
…“Yes.”
“In the group?”
…“Yes.”
People actually do that?”
At this point, they reject group therapy noting that the very thought of it freaks them out, or they are intrigued enough to give it a try.
But what exactly does group therapy have to offer?
Psychodynamic group therapy and your relationship patterns
Psychodynamic group therapy offers you an experience you can’t find anywhere else: the chance to explore how you function in relationships intimately. To this end, psychodynamic group therapy isn’t primarily concerned about your history or upbringing; it focuses on the here and now: how you communicate, what you say and don’t say, and how your “way of being” determines the quality of your relationships.
In other words, group therapy provides you with an experience that individual therapy can’t: The chance to take a deep dive into the space between you and other people.
Why does psychodynamic group therapy focus on relationships?
Relationships can be the source of great comfort or significant pain. They can fill us with esteem and confidence or leave us damaged and traumatized. From a global perspective, we could say that human history’s destructive outcomes spring from human beings’ inability to manage relationships effectively.
I find that even the most intelligent and successful people frequently go astray in relationships. Professionally, they impress; they may be powerhouse lawyers, entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists, teachers, etc. Perhaps they were academic or athletic stars in school. But despite such outward triumphs, their intimate relationships remain unfulfilling.
In individual therapy, you tell your therapist about your relationships. In group therapy, your therapist gets to see you in action. Believe it or not, most people are clueless about their bad habits that affect their relationships. For example:
- A woman joins a group because she feels caught in an endless cycle of unsatisfying relationships. In our appointment, she is outspoken and direct. Yet in group therapy, she is shy, defers to others, resists offering opinions, and avoids conflicts. In other words, she makes herself invisible and easy to forget. I would never have guessed that from our one and only session.
- A man joins a group because he feels rejected by friends. In individual sessions, he is sensitive and open. But in his group, he demonstrates that he is a terrible listener who monopolizes the conversation. In other words, he drives people away and doesn’t know it.
An action-packed 90 minutes
Group’s spotlight on relationships makes psychodynamic group therapy great theater. A well-led group becomes the nerve center of the most intense emotions that a human being can experience: love, hate, frustration, affection, fear, irritation. Even our most potent emotions — such as rage, lust, or hatred — are welcome.
In group therapy, rather than acting on complicated feelings, you learn to study them, process them, and draw emotional strength from them so you can make empowered decisions. You also learn how to foster flourishing relationships, relate with greater empathy, and communicate effectively while setting and maintaining healthy boundaries. (To see how it works, watch a few episodes of the fantastic group therapy YouTube series, GROUP.)
Learn more:
