Group Therapy
Do you clutch when you are in the company of people you don’t know?  Do you worry that people won’t like you once they get to know you?  Is it hard for you to express your emotions, even with family or friends you care about?  Are other people often clueless about what you are thinking and feeling?

A process-oriented psychotherapy group can solve these important relationship problems and others more effectively than individual sessions.  Here’s how.

A process-oriented group brings together a small number of people who meet regularly, share their concerns over a period of months, and focus on developing their relationships with other group members (unmarried individuals or one partner in a couple).  Participants get to know each other more fully and deeply than most people do in the outside world.  Group sessions allow people to express their feelings more directly and more candidly than they would anywhere else.

For each member, the group becomes a microcosm of the outside world and also a laboratory in which different ways of relating to others can be safely explored.  Each person is encouraged to disclose personal issues and notice how it feels to talk about them.  As the therapist, I help the group stay focused on the discussion and interaction during sessions.  Although I may answer questions and sometimes offer comments, I do not actively lead the group.  Rather the group members assume responsibility for directing each session, defining group norms, and providing content.

Process-oriented groups differ from time-limited, theme-related groups—for example, an eight-week depression group in which the therapist teaches members various coping strategies.  Process-oriented groups are ongoing.  They continue on a weekly basis throughout the year.  Members agree to attend at least six sessions initially with no questions asked.  After committing to participation in the group, they attend as regularly as possible. Once the group has reached full size, new members join occasionally, as old members reach their goals and leave.