What is Group Psychotherapy?

The form of Group Psychotherapy I offer is Group Analytic Psychotherapy,  a powerful model of psychotherapy where members of the group come together to explore and work through their difficulties and distress with the help of a group analyst. At its heart, Group Analytic Psychotherapy holds that the relationships between us, our interconnectedness with one another and our family, social and historical contexts are crucial in understanding and working through our deepest distress.  The process of forming strong relationships in the safe and confidential setting of the group is the basis of working through emotional and relationship difficulties and to a greater sense of self-understanding.

(Click here to read about the difficulties that group therapy can be particularly helpful for)

BENEFITS OF GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY

There are many benefits group therapy provides that individual therapy may not.

• You are not alone: The most powerful aspect of group psychotherapy is that it gives you the opportunity to belong and to know that you are not alone, no matter how distressed and overwhelmed you may be feeling as a result of your difficulties.  Group Psychotherapy gives you the opportunity to speak to others who are going through or have been through similar experiences to yours.  
• Affordable Psychotherapy: Group therapy offers excellent value for money as you will have an experience of in-depth psychotherapy with a highly-trained group psychotherapist as well as the benefit of working through difficulties in relationship with others.
• Deeper connections and a support network: The connections formed through being in group psychotherapy can empower you to be open and can help you to build your confidence in relating to others with the support of the other members and the therapist. 
• A safe space to understand relationships: If you experience groups as scary and unsafe places, then perhaps it is time you consider joining a therapy group. The contained space of a psychotherapy group can be a place for you to work through whatever it is you struggle with in terms of relationships with others, self-confidence and communication. 
• Offering perspective and overcoming difficulties to move forward: The opportunity to build relationships within the safe space of a therapy group, to have the experience of feeling understood by others and to be able to hear their perspectives on your distress and experiences can provide a strong base from which to find and experiment with new strategies to bring about change in your life. 
• Finding your sense of self in relation to others: A group is the ideal setting in which unhelpful patterns in relationships in everyday life can be identified and explored thus freeing you up  to be more creative, authentic and empowered in how you relate to yourself and to others. 
•  Getting in touch with your hidden potential through working with others: The culture of each psychotherapy group is co-created by its members with the help of the therapist. Supporting others in the group by helping them work through their own difficulties is a uniquely empowering experience that can shine a light on your own potential and can also give you another perspective on what you may have experienced.