Therapeutic group: types, types of influences

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Modern man is exposed to permanent stress every day. It's all because of bad ecology, problems at work, a noisy and dirty metropolis. The nervous system wears out, malfunctions. In addition to pressing problems, any severe shocks that have happened in life can greatly shake the psyche. In any of these cases, the person is shown the help of an appropriate specialist. At the moment, therapeutic groups are very popular. Let's take a look at what they are.

Concept

A therapy group is a special community of people who periodically meet under the guidance of a specialist psychotherapist to receive certain psychological assistance and achieve indicated therapeutic results.

For many years, scientists have studied the beneficial effects of group interaction on the psychological state of a person and came to the conclusion that various kinds of meetings led by a goodspecialists are able to exert effective influence, help in resolving various internal conflicts.

Therapeutic groups are now widespread and popular. They are used as an effective method of counseling and helping people with certain mental disorders.

Views

There are different types of therapeutic groups that differ in many ways. Currently, among them there are groups that differ:

• for the intended purpose;
• according to the principles of implementing the desired;
• on theoretical components.

Each of these classifications includes a large number of different therapeutic groups with their own specific characteristics.

Purpose

This classification unites a huge number of psychological communities of people connected with a specific goal.

This can be a collection of groups where absolutely he althy people gather who are prone to severe loneliness or who want to develop some useful psychological skills through various trainings.

A good example of such meetings can be, for example, women's therapy groups, where the fair sex gathers and discusses their problems in their personal lives, at work. They share advice, find the right solution. Or the so-called T-groups, where people gather who want to gain and develop any skills through psychological training.

Also giventhe classification includes treatment-type therapy groups where people come for real help in solving their psychological problems.

Implementation methods

This classification includes communities that differ in methodological approaches to client problems. For example, therapeutic self-help groups are very common. They bring together people who have similar problems or limitations. Helping each other within the group, under the supervision of a psychotherapist, they involuntarily help themselves, finding answers to their questions.

Also gaining popularity of this kind of psychological community is the so-called art therapy groups. Treatment and correction in these meetings is based on the active use of the creative component. Methods of psychological influence can be different: from modeling and drawing, to watching movies and reading poetry.

Theoretical foundations

This classification includes therapeutic groups based on various theoretical bases in modern psychology.

The most prominent representative of this classification is the psychoanalytic group. The essence of this interaction lies in the fact that its participants, under the influence of certain conditions and exercises, have the opportunity to relive their early life experience, return to unresolved problems that caused the development of a particular complex, entailed the creation of internal barriers.

Group members need to consider the source of problems and, finally, get rid of it, that is, deal with their internal fears and complexes completely. All types of therapeutic intervention used in psychoanalytic groups are based on the so-called Gest alt therapy. In this group, the therapist moves away from direct guidance and only creates the necessary atmosphere and conditions.

There are also psychodrama groups. Unlike the types of therapeutic intervention in psychoanalytic groups, they are aimed at solving emotional problems. The therapist here plays the role of a conductor who directs the process.

Treatment groups

The main goal of treatment therapy groups, unlike many others, is to actually change the personality of the client, to a greater or lesser extent.

These groups are usually divided into inpatient and outpatient. The first of these includes patients with acute conditions. Most often, these people ended up in a psychiatric clinic due to severe depression, an attempt to commit suicide, loss of behavioral control. Also, these meetings are attended by chronically ill patients suffering from communication problems with the outside world.

Outpatient groups are organized to work with clients who are faced with difficult life problems in the field of family or other relationships. It is also recommended to attend these meetings in the process of rehabilitation after serious psychological problems.problems.

Levels of group dynamics

Despite the huge variety of therapeutic groups, they are all built on the interaction of the individual with the group and the psychiatrist, the psychiatrist with the group and the individual.

It is a certain influence from the outside that has a completely different effect than when the individual work of the client and the therapist. This is the importance of the society of people with similar problems, which is the most powerful element of influence on the individual. Thus, in group therapy, not only the skills of a specialist are used, but also the psychological potential of individuals.

Based on the above, when observing dynamic changes in groups, three steps can be distinguished:

• Psychological dynamics of an individual.
• Interaction between members of therapy groups.
• The dynamics of the group as a whole.

Cons of therapeutic groups

Despite the fact that intra-group trainings and certain support groups are very popular nowadays, there are a number of limitations within which this psychological help will not be effective.

For example, in severe mental disorders, group therapy not only will not be a worthy alternative to individual sessions, but can also aggravate the situation.

In addition, there are people who have problems interacting with society. Within a therapy group, these clients will not only be unable to disclose theirinternal potential, but also able to prevent other participants from doing this.

And the openness and participation of others that occurs during the period of therapeutic work can create certain illusions in the client about the real world. This can provoke some pattern break and cognitive dissonance between the desired and the actual.