Have you ever considered joining a therapy group?

Group Therapy @ The Healing House – When and where

There is an analytic psychotherapy group running in The Healing House for the last two years. The group meets weekly for an hour and a half on Tuesday evenings. Prospective group members are asked to give a commitment of at least a year. It is my experience that when group members continue their psychological work for a number of years there is potential for profound personal change.

What is Group Analytic Psychotherapy?

It is a form of psychotherapy by the group, of the group, including its conductor. The group can have up to eight members. It is a slow open group, meaning that membership changes over time. It is a process which helps the group members develop a deep understanding of their own psychological processes, their emotional reactions and helps develop self-awareness.

How safe is it to be in a group?

The group is a confidential space where men and women who have not previously met make a commitment to participate in the therapy group on a weekly basis. Matters discussed in the group are not talked about with others outside the group. Group members are asked not to meet by arrangement outside the group. Everything that happens between group members belongs in the group, so if there is an accidental meeting, this encounter should be brought into the group.

Is this group therapy for you?

When you feel discontent with your life and wish to make deep emotional changes and are motivated, this is the group for you.

You meet with the group conductor for a number of individual assessment sessions to explore the possibility of joining the group. We often imagine we are able to communicate what we feel, what we think and have expectations of being easily understood and responded to in the way we expect. When this response is not forthcoming, the upset of feeling misunderstood, isolated and in emotional pain can interfere with the quality of your life.

The symptoms of anxiety, depression, anger, lack of direction in life, feelings of stuckness or an awareness of not understanding yourself well enough are but some of the issues prospective group members explore.

When you begin to understand the meaning of your feelings, reactions and defences in the context of the here and now of the group a powerful emotional learning is possible.

What happens in group therapy?

There is no agenda. Communication begins. The group, with the conductor, uses the hour and a half to engage with whatever arises. Maximal and mutual awareness and communication is the aim, shared as far as possible by all participants, therefore enabling the whole group to take an active part in the work of the group. The group members are active, responsible participants in their emotional growth.

Learning to speak openly and honestly, being able to reflect, is part of the process of becoming more comfortable in your own skin as you deal with difficult feelings and interpersonal issues as they arise in the group. As you come to trust the group this becomes possible. As you begin to address the interpersonal dynamics between group members, you are really beginning to make progress.

The ability to communicate about your own issues as well as those that arise between you and other group members helps activate psychological changes that can be translated to your relationships outside the group.

Get in touch

If you wish to give yourself a way of changing that will alter your life path, please get in touch with Valerie at The Healing House. Valerie has over 25 years’ experience conducting analytic psychotherapy groups. The experience has changed my life. I would love you to have the same opportunity.

Valerie Preston

The Healing House

Mobile – 0878294691