It hurts less when in a group. This holds for a lot of reasons and many situations where the victim can feel less of a pain with the simple act of sharing. After all, why do you think it feels ‘light’ after you have a good talk with a person in confidence? Humans are a communal animal, they like to stay in ‘packs’. This is why you tend to enjoy an activity more when done together with other like-minded people. Be it a celebration, an occasion, a tragedy, or any such experience, when done with others takes it to another level. Likewise, this is the main reason that has brought about the success of the concept of Group Counselling.
Topics Covered
What is Group Counseling?
Simply put, group counseling is based on the concept of bringing together people undergoing the same situations in their lives under a common roof. Here one or more therapists work with a single group and offer the right kind of advice. Group therapy is conducted in various hospitals, community centers, mental health clinics, and other places of similar kinds. While the basic act involves psychotherapy, it could also include medication and individual therapy sessions as well.
The group therapy comprises students, old aged people, teenagers, women, children, and various other categories. The main aim of group therapy is to bring together people suffering through similar lines of conditions. The main aim of group therapy is to be able to :
Offer Information: Most of the time it is simply the fact that ‘you don’t know’. People continue to suffer endlessly because they never realized exactly what was happening to them. To be able to offer the right kind of information about the situation goes a long way in helping the victims. If a person can understand how their ‘pain’ functions, it makes it easy to be dealt with.
To Give Hope: The feeling of doom is worse than death. If a person feels that they have arrived at the dead-end, they are most likely to give up. This is where group counseling comes to picture. The sessions are designed to be able to instill a feeling of hope within the hearts of the people in the group. Also, as you find other people going through a similar situation also offers you a lease of hope that you ‘are not alone’.
The Universal Situation: The main aim of group counseling is the kind of universality it offers to all the participants within the group. This is essential to be able to cope with a certain issue in life when you find the others are going through the same.
The ‘Family’ Group: The group counseling acts like a family you never had. This is a group of people who in due course of time, develop a bond with each other. It is very common for people to develop deep relationships eventually through these groups. Pain is one of the leading binding factors and to be able to find a person to share the same is a huge help.
Altruism: In group counseling, you get to witness various aspects of heroism and strengths. This inspires others to be able to seek out the right kind of help as well. This goes a long way in developing self-esteem and confidence.
The Socialization Factor: This is where you can express yourself without the fear of being judged. Group counseling is a great place to experiment with various methods of solutions and resolutions. This is a safe place where one can be helped out without the fear of failure.
To Imitate: The best benefit of the group session is the fact that it offers a great platform for you to ‘imitate’ the successful recovery examples. As the participants are undergoing the same kind of suffering, it is only obvious to watch how others are coping with the issue. There are also recovery cases that inspire the victims to imitate and embark on their roads to recovery.
To Learn: Group counseling is also a great place to learn from the other members of the group. As there are people from various backgrounds and wakes of life, it helps to be able to share positive information. Through these talk sessions, one can learn a lot and use them to combat your current problems and sufferings.
To Belong: Group counseling helps many people to emerge out of their shells and express themselves. Some victims do not talk it out, simply because they are embarrassed. But when in a group, these very same people can feel belonged to. This offers a feeling of safety, which encourages the most introverts to finally break their silence.
The Strength To Exist: The main aspect of conducting a psychotherapy session in a group is to be able to make the individuals into the ‘whole’ being. The idea is to fix what is broken and offer them a hope to exist as individuals. After all the idea is to exist as independent people in a society with a better coping mechanism that the sessions offer.
When Group therapy is Recommended to an Individual?
Group therapy is a compilation of more than one treatment to help people struggling through various issues in life. The main aspect of group therapy is to be able to help those individuals who would otherwise shy away from seeking help. Group therapy is an effective mode of bringing out the victim on to a platform of familiarity. This is also essential, as other modes of treatment would not be effective otherwise. Also, the familiarity of the entire set up goes a long way in helping people with easy coping mechanisms.
The other major reason to opt for group therapy is the fact that the therapists can deal with more than one person suffering from the same problem. This is also effective, as a single session can include more than one victim at the same time. The group therapy is recommended for victims of:
- Depression: The strange feeling of doom unlimited is when many victims feel suicidal in extreme cases. With group therapy, one can get an overview of how others are coping with the issue in the same manner.
- Anxiety: This is when the victim is not able to cope with the simplest of tasks without going into a panic attack. In extreme cases, the victim might even suffer breakdowns altogether. With the help of group therapy, it is possible to exercise certain techniques that involve the other people with the same problem into a group activity
- Anger Management: This is one of the leading causes when a person needs to get hold of their reactions. Extreme cases of violence are also reported when the victim goes into a fit of anger. Group therapy helps such people come face to face with more of their kind, which gives them the kind of exposure required when dealing with anger management.
- Relationships Problems: Compulsive cheating and clinical lying are some of the major issues in the society today. Group therapy is designed to bring together both the victims and the culprits in separate groups, This helps them face their problems and the causes likewise. Many a time ‘coming to terms with your shame’ goes a long way to resolve an issue.
- Low Self Esteem: There are times when childhood trauma causes deep damage to a person’s self-esteem. This is the reason why many individuals are not able to explore better horizons in life. When at a group counseling, one gets to fly free, as you feel that there are more people like you. This allows a certain degree of confidence which causes the people to rebuild their lost self-esteem.
- Communication And Social Skill Deficit: Many perfectly brilliant people lack the communication and social skills This leads to much distress in life. This could also cause a loss of great opportunities and relationship issues. When at a group therapy, one gets to at least interact with people of the same kind. Making it an easy task to start with, which later can develop into better skills in the real world.
Role of Group Counseling On Mental Well-being
The biggest asset for a human being is a sense of belongingness. While one could argue that this is a natural attribute ‘gifted’ to us at birth itself, there are few unlucky cases as well. Many times we are not able to get the kind of nurturing environment that we are entitled to. There are cases of failed family lives where the people had to look elsewhere for support. This is a growing issue in the teenagers of the world today. There is a reason as to why they need to ‘rebel’. Sometimes, it is just for attention after all, any attention is better than no attention. This is the reason why many young people develop strange personalities and strange skills as well. After all, other freaks in the society offered them what their own families could not, the feeling of belongingness.
The main cause of the behavioral issues in adolescents has been this very carnal sense of loss. If offered at the right time and the right places by the right people, it can make our society into a much better place. However, there have been failed parenting or the complete lack of it, which pushes the youth to take shelter somewhere else. Why not love them and allow them the space to grow in their own home? It is better than them finally taking refuge at some dingy nightclub selling drugs in the corner.
If and when this happens, in steps the concept of group counseling. It is through this very platform that many lost souls have been brought back home. Group counseling is an effective way to allow the victims to feel loved and protected. As other people are going through the same troubled life, it becomes easier for each one to feel safe ‘within’ the familiar environment. The role of the psychotherapist is to be able to offer the right kind of techniques to the group which in turn benefits the individuals.
How Group Counselling Works?
This comprises exercises and activities where the participants get together to perform. It is of great importance that an environment of safety is offered, to express easily. However, at the end of the day, it is the will of the individual who needs to help themselves. The mental stability of the individual is established through due course of time and people get to sustain balance.
After a detailed session or sessions, the self-confidence and self-awareness is revived in a victim. This helps to build back a person, who can lead a normal life in society. There are also various schools and educational institutes that have incorporated the concept of group counseling within their curriculum. This helps many children deal with various aspects of life effectively. This goes a long way in determining the character and ensuring that responsible people have been let out into the society where actions are accounted for.
Benefits Of Groups Counseling Therapy
Group counseling and its success has been embraced by many societies in the world. In fact, both the developed and the developing nations have incorporated the concept into their societies to benefit the citizens in the long run. So lets learn about the benefits of group counseling and how does it helps:
The Perspectives
Group therapy offers the perspective that one needs when dealing with a major mental and emotional issue. When at a group, each person is exposed to the point of view of the others. This is the safety net in more than one way of helping people cope with the current problem. The fact of the matter is that it is always easy to look into the prism of problems through the looking glass that belongs to someone else.
The Boost
Many times, you simply require the right boost in the right direction. This is done through the other members of the group counseling. People are struggling with identity issues who have never experienced an ounce of confidence in their lives. With the group counseling, the bonds tend to develop within the members, which allows them to propel one another towards acquiring their goals.
To Promote Social Skills
The other major benefit of group counseling is the development of social skills that it offers. The main objective of the group counseling is to be able to talk it out. As the sessions progress and more people are involved, it encourages the people to speak. This encourages the betterment of social skills and also allows people to be more vocal.
All About Yourself
One of the major benefits of group counseling is that it teaches you more about yourself. This is a great place to be if you feel lost. The sessions involve techniques that have been designed to help each person feel whole all over again. This is one of the leading reasons for individuals to go for group counseling, as it helps them discover more about themselves. With more and more involvement, the victims find themselves loosening up. This allows them the freedom to fly into the skies unexplored.
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How To Get An Online Family Counseling
While the traditional method of group counseling involves people making their way to the establishment, there are online options as well. This is essentially great in recent times, when almost all businesses and applications are available online. As the access to the web is the only requirement, the online family sessions have soon caught the interest.
- Online platform: Online family counseling is conducted on online platforms. Here, all the participating members along with the therapist get together to start a session. The online sessions are just like the ‘real world’ ones, where a time duration has been set up. This could either vary or stay the same as decided by the one leading the session.
- Research required: To make the right selection, one might need to do some research of their own. There are times when you might encounter platforms that are not reliable. This is one of the major concerns regarding the rightful selection of an online counseling session. Here you need to understand that not all sites are reputed. Be sure to check through proper channels of reviews to ensure that you find the appropriate one. Also, it matters a great deal to go for a session that caters to your specific needs as well.
- Session for Kids: With the constantly expanding horizons of group counseling, now you have a session for all kinds. This can get both convenient and confusing at times. While you might be hunting the right platform, you need to be exact about the type you are signing up for. Make proper research and go through the right kind of reliable channels to finally zero on an online group counseling.
- Right therapist: The next major selection aspect is the right therapist at the sessions. Be sure to know the exact credibility of the therapists as this greatly affects your proper treatment. The web is full of quacks who are masquerading as psychotherapists to nab unsuspecting victims. When selecting an online group session, it is important to go through the license, the certificates, and the previous experiences as well. A good therapist is someone who has the right kind of expertise and help to deal with the issues. The effectiveness of the session directly depends upon the kind of hands that are conducting them. A good therapist revels in the success story of their survivors rather than making money.
- Budget: The budget is the other factor which makes a lot of difference. When deciding upon an online counseling session, be sure to be clear about the budget you have. It is of no use to sign up for a program you do not require. It is necessary to place your money where your needs are. While many websites might promise great results through various sessions, be sure to only go for the ones that you require.
