Group Counseling And Group Therapy
All of us, in our student days, have done group study.
Why? Because we felt that studying together, making discussions and sharing individual’s understanding make better impression on your minds than studying alone.
And it is fact. Group counseling is based on this same theory. A group is formed where every member has same issues.
These groups focuses on one problem, be it obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The counselor or the therapist is the mentor who manages this group but it is the inputs from the group members that are taken into consideration given that they share same predicaments.
There is another underlying factor behind the success rate of this kind of counseling. We have a tendency to alienate anyone who suffers from such problem. A patient of obsessive compulsive disorder is confined in his or room during the social gatherings, if someone is suffering from low self-esteem, he or she does not want to face and confront the world.
This means that these psychological issues are isolating them in some ways. With treatment methods like group counseling, the feeling of not being alone in developed in them. It is comforting for them to interact with people having similar issues because in the confinement of the limited company, that is, family and close friends, they do not always find one like them.
Group counseling is a very organized and streamlined activity. Group members perform certain activities together and then share the results. The existing issues are discussed in the sessions. Also, if someone among them comes up with a solution, it is discussed, they are validated and others are encouraged to take similar efforts.
Often the therapist too, initiates the discussions by introducing a particular aspect of the disorder as the cue. Group counseling sessions are usually hosted in the psychiatric hospitals. How successful a group would be depends upon the fact that how diverse is the condition of each member.
There are different kinds of group counseling. While the disorder based groups need a therapist to manage their members, groups formed by alcoholics consist of members eager to get rid of this addiction and no counselor is required for it.
There is no time limit of these sessions. They are mostly open ended so that members can drop in at any time. However, unlike these freeform groups, the organized one last for a particular period and materials are required like books, pens etc. A group succeeds only when a pro therapist is able to make the members participate and contribute their individual experiences, ideas and opinions.
