Origins of Group Therapy.
Human beings live, work and play in a variety of different social groups, and therefore many emotional problems are brought about by poor person-ego relationships in these groups. Therefore, interpersonal problems are more important than internal problems. Group therapy was born.
Goals of Group Therapy: Yuan Chengmei, Psychiatry Department, Shanghai Mental Health Center
1) Symptom relief
2) Greater self-awareness of the individual and personal growth
3) Personality change
Requirements for participation in groups
(1) Motivated, want to change, and ready to make changes.
(2) Confidence in group therapy and willingness to participate in governance.
(3) Have sufficient psychological maturity to reflect on themselves, be concerned about others, and be able to tolerate temporary dissatisfaction in the treatment process.
Developmental stages of group therapy.
(1) Dependency stage: Watching and speculating about the therapist; the whole group is in an uncertain state, lacking structure, no topics, and only individual goals without group goals; the patient wants to show the best behavior, superficially tries to give advice and assist others, while being cautious and unwilling to take risks himself.
(2) Conflict phase: Reluctance to rely on replacing the original dependency; disappointment in the therapist; manifestation of conflict and competition among members, with frustration and anger (manifested by punctuality or absence), foul language, aggression, blaming and impatience among members; the patient will show negative emotions and test whether the group is trustworthy. This demoralization and disappointment is the price the group must pay, and is a necessary step toward mature and sound group therapy.
(3) Intimacy: A more realistic view of the therapist, who is not considered omnipotent; the conflict between members disappears and “mutual closeness” replaces “mutual exclusion” (can I get closer to other people?) The group shows greater trust, sharing and self-disclosure. The negative emotions expressed at this time are based on mutual understanding and arise in a vein of supportive structure.
Factors that play a role in groups.
(1) Altruistic thinking: feeling good about oneself or recognizing one’s own strengths through one’s assistance to group members.
(2) Group cohesion: The feeling of “being together” experienced by group members, i.e., team spirit. Members have a sense of acceptance and are no longer isolated from others.
(3) Commonality: Members receive that other members have similar problems and feelings and no longer think “I am the only one who is like this”, thus reducing feelings of tension and anxiety.
(4) Interpersonal learning (the absorption part): Members understand more clearly the nature of their own problems through the perceptions of others about themselves.
(5) Interpersonal learning (the part that is lost): The group provides members with opportunities to relate and interact with others in a more adaptive way. The group is a place for members to practice new ways of behaving, a testing ground.
(6) Guiding instructions: Passing on information, sharing information, and giving advice through the therapist or other members.
(7) Emotional outpouring: Members release their emotions about past or here and now situations in the group so that emotions can be relieved. These emotions include anger, sadness, grief, etc., and in the past these were difficult or impossible to let it out.
(8) Identification mimicry: The member perceives him as being like another member or therapist in the group and thus imitates him in his behavior.
(9) Family reenactment: The reenactment in the group of certain bad experiences from the original family and the opportunity for corrective reorganization. The new, valid experience in the group will replace the previous bad experience.
(10) Self-understanding: Members learn as much as possible about the mechanisms and origins of their behavior and become psychologically aware of their illness.
(11) Hope infusion: Members see that others have improved or are improving, and thus feel that the group is helpful and have an optimistic hope that the group can help them. (12) Existence factor: The member eventually accepts the fact that he must be responsible for his own life.