Embracing Healing Together: The Transformative Power of Group Therapy
Today, let's chat about a game-changer on your mental health journey – the magic of group therapy. Group therapy can provide a powerful container for mental health support and has shown to have benefits for reducing various mental health and social issues. Research shows group therapy to be effective for anxiety (Barkowski, 2020), depression (McDermut, Miller, & Brown, 2001), grief and loss, and many other mental health and social issues.
Group therapy is effective for many reasons. Listed here are some of the top reasons group therapy may be just what you need in your healing journey:
1. Strength in Numbers: Facing Loneliness Head-On
Loneliness can be a silent struggle, but group therapy turns down the volume on that isolating soundtrack. Together, groups break the chains of solitude, creating a community where you are seen, heard, and embraced. In the company of others who understand, the weight of loneliness becomes a shared burden, lighter for all. Group therapy becomes a safe haven where words are understood beyond their surface, creating a unique bond among individuals in the journey of healing.
Imagine a space where you're not just heard, but truly understood. These shared experiences can be a catalyst for profound transformations.
2. Building Familiarity with our Patterns
Groups are considered a social microcosm (Yalom, 2005) that mimic your relational experiences in your everyday life. What roles do you usually embody... are you usually the caretaker who prioritizes other’s needs before your own? Do you find it difficult in daily life to set boundaries, prioritize coping skills, or experience an anxious freeze in communication? All of these patterns play out in group dynamics, allowing for opportunities to witness the pattern and testing out a new behavior, skill, or way of being with the support of a therapist and other group members.
Although a vulnerable experience, the real-time feedback from other group members can give us clarity on how our patterns unfold and create space for us to courageously try something new in commitment to our healing.
2. Affordability: Because Healing Shouldn't Break the Bank
Let's talk about the real deal – the cost. We get it, therapy can be an investment, but group therapy often comes with a more budget-friendly price tag. Affordability shouldn't be a barrier to healing, and group sessions can be a practical solution to make mental health support accessible to all.
Individual therapy can run upwards of thousands of dollars a year, especially if you don’t have mental health insurance benefits or you’re not able to find the right therapist for you in-network with your insurance. Group therapy usually costs $30-90 per 1-2 hour session, on average, whereas individual therapy runs $75-200 per 1 hour session on average!
5. Shared Tears, Shared Triumphs: Navigating Grief
Grieving is a journey that is much easier to traverse with companionship. Whether you’re experience grief as a direct result of loss, or your feeling the grief of a new diagnosis or outgrowing older versions of yourself, group therapy provides a space where shared tears become stepping stones toward living in harmony with your grief.
Grief is difficult to accept in a pain-avoidant society, and yet, a normal and healthy part of life. Group support can help us remember our grief as an experience of love. In the company of those who've faced similar losses, you find solace, support, and a path to rebuilding.
5. The Art of Expressive Healing: Group Therapy as a Form of Play
Group therapy can often include in elements of playfulness and levity. It can also be viewed as a “playspace” for experimenting of new ways of behaving, thinking, and engaging in relationships. Exploring and witnessing mental health struggles with others can involve humor, comradery, and creative expression! You’ll often see group therapists offering creative-arts interventions or games in group therapy to provide an alternative way to explore or experiment with the group content.
Expressive therapies in group settings provide a unique avenue for self-discovery. Whether it's through art, movement, or other expressive mediums, these sessions can unlock emotions and foster a deeper understanding of your own narrative. Creative-arts therapies can provide a new language to make sense of your experiences.
