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[formysilence]

Anyone have any experience with group therapy? What was it like? Was it helpful?

Comments

[formysilence]

Thanks for the input. I guess it could be different if I decide to go and it's all college students.

[rainbow_goddess]

I took part in group therapy several years ago, and it sucked. The facilitators would cut me off when I tried to bring up important issues, saying that I wasn't ready to talk about them

[formysilence]

That's... terrible, and I have no idea why anyone would think that that was all okay. =P Thanks for the input, though, I'll have to see what's available to me I suppose!

[leeshers]

Wow I am a therapist and my red flags are going off all over the place. That is completely unethical! Was it some sort of religious program? I mean technically social workers (in CA) can do therapy but if they are trained or not really depends on their program and experiences.

I am so sorry you had that experience.

[rainbow_goddess]

Not at all. It was a government-funded group day program (all day, nine to three, I think) that was run out of the local psychiatric hospital. We had one psychiatrist who came by once or twice a week, but he didn't really participate very much.

[mrflagg]

AMA is my group therapy

[cabbage_ruffle]

I have done group therapy twice. Once was a Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy group that was done in conjunction with individual therapy. It was highly, highly helpful and useful, but is pretty different from more traditional group therapy.

I was also in a day program at one time that was basically group therapy 24/7. This was a more traditional group. The therapists had done a good job assembling people who were at somewhat similar places in life, so we could relate to one another pretty well. The therapists themselves were phenomenal. Just awesome. The therapy itself was sort of helpful, but I find individual therapy to be much MORE helpful.

[gaming_momma]

I do not personally. But after years of struggling with drugs and criminal behavior my brother has made a turn around. And a lot of it was due to group therapy. He says a lot of the difference is having to admit your past mistakes not just to yourself, but to the group too. It takes more guts to admit it to a group of people. He had the most success with his anger management group. Having the group support helps keep calm. Having someone else to lean on or relate to made it easier to simmer down. And over time it became habit and easier to do alone.

From the other stuff I read here, I am sorry it was such a horrible experience fro some of you. But it doesn't have to be with the right setting, authority, and group of people.