Group Therapy: 5 reasons it works. Thoughts from a DC therapist.
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You may hear the words “group therapy” and feel a bit uneasy. You may have some preconceived ideas of what it is like from depictions on television or film. Group therapy is very different than an ongoing support group, which many people don’t know! Group therapy is run by a licensed therapist with a clear beginning, middle and end. Support groups (which can also be amazing and wonderful resources for so many people) are peer led, which means a licensed therapist is not there to provide real life tools that are evidenced based. You may have even tried a support group that was not run well and had an unpleasant experience. Or, you may hear the words group therapy and say “Tell me more! That’s exactly what I’m looking for!”. Whatever your reaction or experience, I’m here to share with you reasons group therapy is exactly what you have been searching for and why.
Group therapy has a common purpose and goals for your specific needs.
Group therapy is designed to navigate a clear presenting problem. I run both a chronic pain and complex chronic illness group for women and a perinatal and postpartum group. These groups are really specific about who it is aiming to help and our weekly group sessions are designed to address each specific issue with thought, care and evidence based tools.
Each person in the group has had a phone consultation with me and would clearly benefit from being in the group. While each woman in the group may have slightly different concerns or struggles, there is a common thread that unites everyone. Different chronic illness diagnoses still share the common experience of feeling isolated, emotionally exhausted, anxious or “behind” their peers. Women who are pregnant or postpartum may be in different stages of motherhood, yet they share a commonality of anxiety and worry about their by, isolation in their fears, feelings of depression or detachment that pregnancy and motherhood was not what they expected or shared medical traumas during pregnancy and birth.
Each week, my goal is to provide new tools that work in our real, busy lives, and have you leaving saying to yourself “I feel so much less alone.”
Group therapy has a clear timeline.
Peer lead support groups in the community may be ongoing and you can join at anytime. Group therapy, led by a licensed mental health clinician, has a clear timeline of sessions. For my groups, we meet once a week for six weeks. The time and place is consistent and we have a clear goal each session.
For example, my chronic pain and complex chronic illness group for women will include specific handouts, audio recordings and worksheets to be given each week that align with what psychoeducational tools you learned that week. The same can be said for my postpartum and pregnant moms group, which includes tools to use and practice throughout the week that are actually realistic and helpful for both perinatal and new moms!
Group therapy uses evidence based treatment.
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Group therapy led by a licensed professional counselor is designed with evidence based treatments. This assures that the tools and techniques you are learning have robust positive outcomes! In other words, these tools help you start feeling more like yourself and “unstuck” in your pain and anxiety.
Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is a technique I use consistently with my therapy groups. Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches us how to identify unhelpful thought patterns, find evidence to challenge these unhelpful thoughts and provides tools to help create a new, more helpful thought pattern. CBT is incredibly helpful in managing anxious and depressive thoughts and is the gold standard for treating individuals with both chronic illness & complex chronic pain and perinatal & postpartum moms.
Dialectical behavioral therapy, or DBT is a theory I like to incorporate to help women navigating motherhood or health issues. Dialectical behavioral therapy helps us find distress tolerance techniques to withstand a chronic pain flare or stressors that come with a newborn.
Acceptance and Commitment therapy, or ACT, is such an integral part of my group therapy. Acceptance and commitment therapy helps us identify when our nervous system is activated (we call this the sympathetic nervous system or our “fight, flight, freeze” response) and gives us tools to activate our parasympathetic nervous system (we call this our “resting” state). ACT gives us grounding techniques, breathing tools, guided visualizations and mindfulness techniques. ACT also teaches us how to live in alignment with our values, how to find acceptance with our reality when it is so far from what we wanted or hoped for and how to make changes through committed action.
Group therapy can be an amazing experience on its own or a helpful addition to individual therapy.
Often times, I speak to women who have an amazing individual therapist whom they have a trusting and safe relationship with, but that therapist is not niched in chronic pain or postpartum health. They want to keep seeing their therapist but really need some tools to help manage a very specific issue. Group therapy is an amazing addition to your individual therapy! It has a short and known time commitment, you get specific tools for chronic illness or pregnancy and you can still maintain your therapeutic relationship with your individual therapist.
You may have had individual therapy in the past and feel like you made so much progress but are missing key pieces to help navigate your health or motherhood. A short term therapy group can give you those tools you need and tear down feelings of isolation since you are not doing it alone!
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Group therapy breaks down feelings of isolation. You are surrounded by people who just “get it”.
One of the most healing parts of my groups happens organically. Yes, the tools I give and psychoeducation are wonderful and necessary. But I factor in plenty of time for psychotherapeutic processing for the group because such an intangible piece of healing is knowing that you are meeting women who completely understand your journey. You don’t have to feel ashamed or “other”. You don’t have to spend time explaining your health issue to people who don’t get it. Everyone in that space understands, holds compassion and provides mutual support.
You may have incredible friends and family that are supportive in so many ways. This can look like emotional, financial, physical or social support. These support systems are priceless and integral to your healing, but there is still a part of you that desires to have your physical pain or emotional pain completely understood. That relief of feeling understood is just one amazing benefit that a therapy group can provide.
Sometimes, people are worried that they will leave a group session feeling worse. The fear is that group members will “just complain” because that is how they felt at other support groups. Not here! We are here to get tools, feel empowered, listen to others' concerns and provide empowerment to the other women in the group. The group leader is essential in running a group that maintains its strength based mindset. Each week, I aim to have group members leave session feeling stronger, more equipped and connected.
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An integrative approach of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is proven to be an effective treatment modality for anxiety, depression, medical trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder among other issues. At our DC-based Therapy office, as a highly trained therapist, I am here to guide you through this process of healing to stop simply surviving and begin thriving. Read the steps below to get started on your therapeutic journey.
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Other Mental Health Services Offered at Greater Washington DC and New York City CBT Counseling for Women
We understand that women face a unique set of mental health challenges in today’s society and need specialized support, especially when navigating complex health issues and postpartum health. No two mental health journey’s to recovery are the same and we offer individualized and unique care, treatment plans and support that is tailored to each person. We treat anxiety, depression, and PTSD in both Individual and Group counseling settings. We also specialize in CBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy.