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What happens in groups: free-floating discussion

There are many overlaps and similarities between what happens in one-to-one and group therapy. There are also many differences. Below I am going to talk about a group process called ‘free-floating discussion’ (Foulkes 1964, pp 40, 126).

In any group session, individual members are likely to bring in something for attention from the group. For example, this might be a problem, a narrative from the past or present, a dream, a dilemma, or a difficult feeling or experience, and so on. The group will generally respond to whatever is being presented in a similar way to an individual therapist. For example, by focussing on what is being said and offering a mix of interventions such as empathy, understanding, questions, reflections, links, and insights.

However, therapy group members are also encouraged to associate with what they are hearing and disclose what is being brought up for them. Here the group departs from individual therapy where the therapist is very unlikely to join in in this way and even if they did, they would not generate the multiple responses that a group can. If the group members can let themselves engage spontaneously with their associations and thoughts, the conversation can then start to move and flow between different members. In other words, into a free-floating discussion.

Those new to the experience of group work can sometimes find this disconcerting, ‘I don’t want to make it about me’ or ‘I don’t want to take it away from you’ are not uncommon comments. While socialised inhibition and politeness may be at play, group members used to one-to-one work might also feel reluctant to move away from what can be seen as essentially an individual therapy model – that is that the group acts together as the ‘therapist’ with one person as the ‘patient’.

However, this concept of free-floating discussion was developed from a Freudian idea of ‘free association’ for individual work. Freud encouraged his patients to let their thoughts,  feelings and fantasies wander and move from one association to another in a session, and to disclose these as spontaneously as possible. Freud believed this process allowed him and the patient to get closer to the unconscious.

Free-floating discussion in group therapy is a similar idea. The more freed up the group is to move from one association to another, the richer the conversation becomes. Group members can therefore move more deeply into less ‘known’ areas of understanding and profound emotional connectivity, opening the potential for a transformational, therapeutic experience.

What happens in groups: blog series by Claire Barnes

This blog is part of a series, in which I look at what happens in group analytic groups. I hope that this will give a sense of what it might be like to be in a therapy group and what are the ideas that underpin group analytic therapy.

Other blogs in the series include:
How psychotherapy groups can help change our internalised family systems
What is the role of the therapist in therapy groups?
What happens in group therapy: mirroring
What is it like being in a psychotherapy group? Case study – Joe

 

Claire Barnes is an experienced UKCP registered psychotherapist and group analyst offering psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy to individuals and groups at our Hove practice.  She also offers couples therapy at BHP.

 

Further reading by Claire Barnes

It’s not me… It’s us!

What are the benefits of a twice weekly therapy group?

Understanding feelings of guilt

A new psychotherapy group

The process of joining a therapy group

 

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The psychological impact on children who grow up in cults

I have just watched the latest Netflix docu series “How to Become a Cult Leader?” and was pleased to see that images of the cult I grew up in appear in it with frequency, because it means it is undoubtedly and widely recognised as a cult. Familiar images of the cult leader doing “energy darshans” (so-called transmission of energy) with his disciples, who in turn look utterly blissful, was designed to portray him as someone who holds special powers and cures people’s suffering instantly.

Indoctrination from an Early Age

The indoctrination of children in cults differs from that of adults in that children are extremely vulnerable to adult influence – the people they look up to, especially their parents. Children’s brains are still developing, and they are like sponges, absorbing the world around them, the world of adults who create the environment they exist in. A child will absorb the world view of those around her and accept this as her reality because this is all she has known.

The Cult Leader’s Demands Always Comes First

In cults, the cult leader or doctrine always takes priority over anything else. The child who grows up in a cult will never be the centre of attention in her parent’s world because they will most likely be totally self-absorbed with the cult leader and the cult demands. These demands are usually great and unattainable because the leader is likely to be highly perfectionistic, insatiable, and persecutory of those who do not meet his or her ideals. Moreover, a cult leader will employ fear tactics with their disciples and keep them in a state of perpetual adoration towards him and shame towards themselves. In this state of fear, shame and total preoccupation with another, there is no room for the age-appropriate demands of a child who actually needs their parent’s care and attention.

“Have No Needs”

A child who grows up in a cult learns to have no needs because she quickly learns that they do not matter. To survive in the cult and gain some crumbs of attention from her parents, she will have no choice but conform to the leader’s demands, try to fit in as much as possible and override her natural developmental needs. This means the child will miss out on normal stages of development, if not also on education and normal peer interactions because of the insular and isolated nature of most cults.

Isolation and Abuse

Sending a child to school means interacting with the outside world, which most cults find threatening. Depending on how isolated a cult becomes, they will supply their own schooling, have children interact only with other cult children and make sure there is no outside influence that could lead the child to question her upbringing.

Keeping a child isolated from society also makes her vulnerable to abuse – sexual, physical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological. Isolated groups create their own rules and decide what is right or wrong. In the cult I grew up in for instance, children and teenagers were conveniently seen and treated as adults.  This meant that we were required to work long hours, worship and meditate with the adults. This also meant that schooling was minimal and there was no age-appropriate censorship to adult-only stuff. The cult leader – a self-proclaimed enlightened master – was seen as an expert in raising children, despite him not having any children himself or knowing anything about child development. If the cult leader condones inappropriate, harmful, or even criminal behaviour, then his disciples collude because all that matters is what the leader thinks. His truth matters above all truths, and he/ she is always above societal rules and norms, including the law. Under these circumstances, children are extremely vulnerable to predators.

The Objectification of Children

In cults, children are either seen as an inconvenience or used as means for growing the cult. In both situations, children are seen as objects and not encouraged to develop their own identity. In cults, nothing is in the best interest of a child. Everything is in the best interest of the leader and the organisation. Despite this well-known fact, cult leaders will make it seem that everything they do is for your good and the good of your children, even if there is plenty of evidence to the opposite (see ‘Gaslighting’ below). They will make you quash your doubts, question your sanity, and give up everything you have, including your children, in the service of “the greater good”. This “greater good” has very few winners, which are usually the leader and his inner circle.

Gaslighting

A central feature of cults is gaslighting – a term coined from the movie ‘Gaslight’ where it a young woman is manipulated by her husband into believing that she is descending into insanity. Cults do this on a large scale, which is designed to keep its disciples or followers in a state of perpetual doubt about their opinions and follow the opinions and ideas of the cult leader. It is an exercise in maintaining power over others and abdicating any responsibility for one’s actions. For instance, in the cult I grew up in the self-proclaimed enlightened master would attribute all personal suffering to his disciples and never take any responsibility. This extended to the sexual, financial, and psychological exploitation of ‘his people’ including children. When questioned, he would say that you had not surrendered to him enough and that this was your reason for suffering.

Leaving

When the child grows up and is lucky enough to leave the cult, she or he will have to contend with a long process of rebuilding or recovering her own identity. Everything that she is has been attributed to the cult or exists because of the cult. Sometimes, when a former child choses to leave, her family will want nothing to do with her. Or she may need to cut contact with her family to survive psychologically.

The Recovery Process

Cult recovery is a long and challenging process which requires the right support. Finding a group of like-minded individuals who share similar backgrounds is advisable, as well as finding a therapist who is experienced and knowledgeable about this type of work. Explaining to people what you have gone through is never easy. Former cult members and those who grew up in cults can feel a lot of shame about their past and have difficulty articulating what they have been through. Most people lack an appreciation of what it is like to live in a high control group and its effects.

Regaining One’s Mind and Setting Boundaries

Those who were born or grew up in cults will often need to learn or re-learn how to live in society. Although cults range in terms of how isolated and restricted their members are, the indoctrination of children is so deep that it will take a very long time to regain their own mind, learn to think for themself and have their own opinions. This extends to knowing one’s own preferences, wishes and needs. Because having own thoughts and opinions was frowned upon or even dangerous, it takes time to regain a sense of safety in doing normal things, having personal preferences, and even feeling entitled to personal space. Growing up in an environment where nothing belongs to you, all the thinking is done for you and personal space is not a thing, has big implications in later life when it comes to setting personal boundaries.

Sam Jahara is a UKCP Registered Psychotherapist and Clinical Superviser. She is experienced in working with the psychological impact of high-control groups and cults on individuals, families and organisations. She has also spoken about her personal experience of growing up in a cult in recent public interviews.

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What are the benefits of a twice Weekly therapy group?

Most therapy groups run once a week. In our practice at Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy, we also offer a twice weekly group, but how does having a second session in the week help?

Emotional bonds
An essential aspect of any group therapy is building emotional relationships between group members, enabling strong attachments to form. This creates an enhanced sense of belonging which, in and of itself, is therapeutic.

In addition, because psychological difficulties tend to originate in some form of breakdown in early childhood relationships, group psychotherapy also emphasises the relationships in the group as an essential means of understanding oneself and others.

These relationships are both real and transferential (the latter, meaning other members and the conductor can ‘stand in’ for important relationships, especially in the original family). In this way, therapy groups offer all kinds of opportunities to explore the complexity of relationship dynamics, both past and present. This helps the individual to develop insight into their patterns of relating and what ‘went wrong’ early on, as well as the potential to find resolution and transformation in ongoing relationship problems.

Any functioning therapy group will enable these emotional bonds and dynamics to grow between members but in a twice weekly group these relationships are likely to be particularly intensified and strengthened.

Depth
Group analytic psychotherapy is concerned not only with reaching depth in relationship to others but also in relationship to oneself. In this approach, we are interested in what is known and conscious but also, and arguably more importantly, what is unknown and unconscious.

It has long been assumed and agreed, in the analytic professional field, that greater frequency of sessions will reach greater depths in the psyche. When the gaps between sessions are shorter there is less time for defences to build up. This is as true for group work as it is for individual work.

Continuity
It is perhaps obvious to say that a more frequent therapy model will provide greater sense of continuity from session to session. Shorter gaps means that threads and conversations can be picked up, carried forward and explored. This facilitates the emotional intensity and the depth outlined above but can make the group also feel more containing.

This helps because therapy work can be anxiety-inducing. To be successful, therapy will always touch parts of ourselves that we don’t see, or don’t want to see, or don’t want others to see.

The more frequent contact also reduces anxieties that inevitably arise in making any close relationships. On the occasions friction or conflict in the group arises, the opportunity to return and repair is only a short time away.

Who would benefit from twice weekly group therapy?
Returning to my original title/question, you may be wondering if you are someone who might benefit from twice weekly group therapy?

Finances and Time
Of course, there can be practical considerations. A twice weekly group essentially involves greater time and financial commitment than once weekly groups. Currently, for example, the twice weekly group I run works out at £60 a week (2 sessions of £30 twice a week). This is £20 a week more that my once weekly groups.

However, it is worth noting that in relationship to individual work, £60 a week is a lower fee than that charged by many psychotherapy practices, including my own and those at BHP, for individual therapy.

In addition, if you feel you would benefit from working in a more frequent way, doing this in a group is financially far more cost effective than in individual work.

The time commitment is also something that some people find they need to think about. My experience is usually once people have made connections in the group, it becomes a part of their life and network and so easier to accommodate.

There is also a good argument that the intensity of the work speeds up the process and that, in the long term, more frequent psychotherapy tends to achieve results more quickly and more lastingly than once weekly. There are, of course, exceptions to this in both ways but my experience has certainly been that changes tend to come about more quickly and with greater tenacity in twice weekly groups.

Who might benefit?
So, who might benefit from this more intensive, in-depth, group work? Well, this is much the same as for any group therapy – see Is a Therapy Group Right for Me? Am I Right for a Therapy Group? – Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy
And, beyond that, I would say anyone and everyone!

It seems to me that the advantages, as outlined in this article, will have a special appeal to some people. This may be for different reasons; according to individual struggles, where people are in their lives, and what they feel drawn to. But ultimately, if you are looking for an in-depth and impactful psychotherapy with an emphasis on exploring your relationship dynamics and patterns, that is also cost effective, then this may well be a good option for you.

Additional note
My focus here is on the ‘twice weekly’ element of this question, but if you are interested in reading more about group therapy, and its benefits, below are some links to some blogs and webpages.

(Further reading can also be found under ‘blog’ and then ‘groups’ on our homepage)

Group Analytic Psychotherapy

What is it like being in a Psychotherapy Group? Case study – Joe

How psychotherapy groups can help change our internalised family systems

 

Claire Barnes is a group analyst and training group analyst. She runs 3 groups at the practice,
Twice weekly: Mondays 4.15-6.45pm, Wednesdays 7.15-8.45pm
Once weekly: Thursday mornings 10.15-11.45am
Once weekly: Thursday evenings 6.15pm-7.45pm

If you are interested in exploring the possibility of joining any of her groups, please contact through the enquiry form.

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A New Psychotherapy Group

Starting a new psychotherapy group always gives me a sense of excitement. Until everyone is in the room together you never quite know what’s going to happen. And of course, that’s just the beginning.

Growing a group

In group analysis we often talk about ‘growing’ a group. It’s a useful way to describe the process. Tilling the ground, adding nutrients to the soil, planting seeds, watering, feeding; all these gardening activities symbolise the tasks involved in trying to create a nurturing environment for individuals to come together and flourish as a therapy group.

Firstly, finding a good setting is very important. (I am lucky to already have a lovely group room at Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy in which my two current groups meet, so this isn’t a task I have to be concerned about).

After the setting I settle on a regular time and day of week for the group to meet. And then I see if I can find individuals who might be interested, can make that time, and who I feel might benefit from a group.

Suitability for group therapy

Although exploring who will join the group means giving time and support for potential members to work out if a group will be right for them, I will also be thinking about their suitability for group therapy, and this particular group.

A fundamental question in my mind will be about the level of interest the person might have in themselves and others. Curiosity is vital for individuals to benefit from the group and, also, for the group to benefit from them.
And it needs to be the right time. For e.g. someone who has had a very recent trauma or bereavement, might need to get help with this first before they are ready to be in a group.

The joining process – boundaries and culture

The group culture is important in making the group feel safe and therapeutic so there are certain boundaries that people need to agree to – e.g. confidentiality etc – before joining.

See my blog on The Process of Joining a Therapy Group for more detail about this and other aspects of the joining process.

Differences between joining a new group and an established one

There are certainly some differences in joining a new group than an established one. One of the features – if not advantages – is that you are at the core of the experience from the start and will inevitably have influence in shaping how the group forms early on. It’s perhaps akin to being the oldest child, as opposed to children who come after who may never quite fully share and know all the family history.

The first session

The first session of a new group is nerve racking for everyone – including me! Generally, it goes much better than people expect. Inevitably it can feel a bit awkward at first, but once these initial steps have been taken people usually do start to feel comfortable enough to begin opening up. Often people are surprised by how intimate it can feel so early on.

Common ground is usually found and, for many, it’s a major relief from the outset to see how their worries and fears become quickly normalised.

New group starting

I will be starting a new psychotherapy group later this year, running Thursday mornings on a weekly basis. If you’d like to find out more or explore the possibility of joining, do get in touch with me through my practitioners’ page.

 

Claire Barnes is an experienced UKCP registered psychotherapist and group analyst offering psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy to individuals and groups at our Hove practice.

 

Further reading by Claire Barnes – 

The process of joining a therapy group

What is ‘othering’ and why is it important?

How psychotherapy groups can help change our internalised family systems

Is a Therapy Group Right for Me? Am I Right for a Therapy Group?

What happens in Therapy Groups? The role of the Therapist

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The Process of Joining a Therapy Group

Below, I am going to outline the process for joining a therapy group. It is important to say at the outset that I am describing my own practice and while the underlying principles will generally be shared by other group analysts, the specific processes and procedures will be variable. 

Taking the First Step

People come into my groups in a variety of ways. Some people get in touch because they have decided for themselves that group therapy might be helpful for them; they may even have been in a therapy group in the past, or a group might have been suggested to them. 

If you fall into this category, the chances are you will have already been thinking about the benefits of a group and are now ready to take that next step in joining one.

Others come with a little more uncertainty. They may have had a group suggested to them by their therapist or been assessed and a group strongly recommended. If someone hasn’t been thinking about a group before and doesn’t know much about group therapy, this suggestion can come as a surprise and, for some, take some getting used to.

If you fall into this category, then you may be feeling a little more cautious and might need more time to think about this idea of group therapy. 

Initial Consultation

When anyone gets in touch with me, with an interest in joining a group at the practice, I offer a short, free telephone consultation. This usually takes around 20-25 minutes and gives us both an opportunity to think about; why they are considering a group, whether group therapy is suitable for them and what spaces are available in which groups here at our practice. I may also ask a few questions about their background, current situation, and particular issues and most likely, we will touch on what might be beneficial and challenging about being in a group for them. 

This telephone conversation can lead to a range of outcomes. For the purposes of this article, I shall focus solely on what happens if we agree that a group appears to be timely and suitable for the person and I have a group space at a time they can make. 

Assessment

While the telephone conversation is useful in clarifying any immediate obstacles to someone joining one of my groups, it is not an assessment. Therefore, the next step would be to have a face-to-face assessment. This is done in-person if possible – unless of course it is an online group we are considering. 

This session will explore in greater depth what we would have covered briefly on the telephone. I will also ask more about the person’s history and encourage some thinking about their relationship to groups, such as, family, school, friends, work etc. As in all psychotherapy assessments, I will want to find out a bit more about the person’s relationships, problems, needs, risks, medication, previous psychological input, and levels of function. 

This session also gives them the opportunity to think in more depth about the idea of being in a group. This is helpful to get a firmer sense of why a group might help but also what challenges a group might present to them. 

Sometimes we need more than one of these assessment sessions before we’re clear that the person is ready and wanting to join a group. 

Finding a Time to Join

Once we’ve agreed that someone is ready, we need to think about when they will join. In a new group this is relatively straight forward – I give all prospective members a start date and they all join at the same time.

Joining an established group is a little more complicated as the group also needs to be ready to accept a new member. These groups are called ‘slow’ and ‘open’ which means while people join ongoingly we make sure this happens at a slow pace. This helps the group continue to feel stable and secure. 

As well as this factor, before the individual joins the group, they also need to be ‘ready’ and they will need some help in preparing for this. 

Preparation and Contracting 

I have generally found that anyone joining a group requires at least 2 or 3 preparatory sessions. Some need more and some decide to do some individual work with me first before joining the group. 

The preparatory sessions offer an opportunity to explore further the themes picked up in the assessment process. In addition, people often find it helpful to make some space for any anxieties that might arise.

This preparatory stage also allows me to talk about what is expected of group members. To keep the group therapeutically safe, all members are asked to agree to certain boundaries. An obvious example is confidentiality. Another is that members do not have contact with each other outside the sessions. These and other boundaries can be seen as making a contract with the group to keep it safe and therapeutic. 

First session

The first session can feel daunting, even for those relatively confident in groups. 

In a new group there can be a lot of anxious feelings in the group which can take several sessions to start to properly settle. However, everyone is in the same boat and often people find that reassuring and helpful. It can also feel important for some to feel that they have been in a group from its earliest inception.

In an established group, being the new person is always going to feel challenging to some extent and likely to bring up earlier experiences of being new (for e.g., starting school). However, the atmosphere is likely to be much calmer and less anxious than that of a brand-new group. Established members will also be able to help the new member settle in. Some people can also enjoy the feeling of being special that their newness gives them. 

Despite the expected anxious feelings new members are often surprised how quickly they form bonds and get to know other members of the group. This process is helped by the preparatory work and the boundaries agreed to by the members. 

Conclusion 

Whatever the experience of joining a therapy group the likelihood is it will feel powerful and tap into earlier histories and experiences of both groups and beginnings. The emphasis on stages of initial consultation, assessment, preparation, and contracting, are all in place to hopefully help and support the new group member in their own joining process. 

Joining a Group

If you are interested in exploring joining one of the groups mentioned above, please do contact me through the enquiry form.

Groups run by Claire Barnes

Claire currently runs two groups at Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy 

  •  once weekly group on Thursday evenings
  •  twice weekly group on late Monday afternoons, and Wednesday evenings.

She is also now taking referrals for a new face-to-face group, to run on Thursday mornings at the same practice and address. 

 

Further reading by Claire Barnes

What is ‘othering’ and why is it important?

How psychotherapy groups can help change our internalised family systems

Is a Therapy Group Right for Me? Am I Right for a Therapy Group?

What happens in Therapy Groups? The role of the Therapist

What happens in Group Therapy: Mirroring

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How psychotherapy groups can help change our internalised family systems

Family backgrounds and values

From our earliest times, we absorb the emotional systems of our family environment. As we make our way in the world we take our families with us, internalised and manifesting consciously and unconsciously in many, if not all, aspects of our lives.

While the societal and cultural context of the family is a key aspect in determining some dominant aspects of the family system, in this piece I am more concerned with the unique emotional variations of individual families. Thinking about our own families of origin, for e.g., we might ask ourselves – what emotional values dominated? What feelings were allowed and what feelings were not allowed?

As we enter adolescence, and then adulthood, we become more able to step outside our original family systems and compare them with those of others. This can help us also see how our own family culture has impacted and shaped us as individuals.

These insights can lead to some deliberate rejections of family values and behaviour. There are many decisions, significant and small, many make as adults to try and separate and ‘do it differently’. What is more difficult to disentangle from, however, are those parts of the system which have been unconsciously assimilated and which we therefore can’t recognise in ourselves or perhaps even in our family. This unconscious maintenance of our family culture is at its most complicated and hidden in our emotional life and is very likely to surface in our relationships.

The family system and the psychotherapy group system

When someone joins a psychotherapy group, they unconsciously expect the group (as well as the therapist) to behave like their family. A little like the stereotyped ‘Brit abroad’, they are expecting things to be like it is ‘back home’ even though they have made the journey initially for something different. Because their own family culture is what they know, the individual feels in some way that they’re going to be safer if the group behaves in this expected way.

In these scenarios two things are likely to happen.

Firstly, the group will, at times, unconsciously repeat for the individual experiences that replay the family culture.
In psychotherapy, past experiences will always resurface in some shape or other. This is an opportunity for the individual to tackle difficulties head on and ‘in the moment’. While the group will inevitably repeat some aspects of the family system, it is not the family and as a therapeutic system it will allow these experiences to be explored. Sometimes, this can happen quickly but often it is an ongoing process over time.

Secondly, the group and therapist will, also at times, confound the unconscious expectations that the individual’s family culture will be recreated.

As I said above, the therapy group develops its own culture and system based on therapeutic values rather than the old family values. This new group system will eventually override or at least reshape the old system of the individual’s family.

This is quite explicit when group members expect a shaming or critical response when they reveal or expose some thought, feeling or behaviour that would not fit with their own family values – consciously or unconsciously. It can be a moving and an important experience when they’re met with a typical therapy group response of acceptance, empathy and understanding.

In addition to those more obvious moments, as the individual becomes immersed in the group culture, they allow this new – more benign, and therapeutic – system to replace the old. This deeper process takes place in a complex way over time.

Summary

We are all shaped by our family cultures. Problematic aspects of our emotional lives and relationships can often be traced back to our family experiences and the systems we have internalised. Group therapy offers an opportunity to engage with these internalised parts of ourselves and through the group therapeutic process separate from limiting or harmful family assumptions and values.

 

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Claire Barnes, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

 

Claire Barnes is an experienced UKCP registered psychotherapist and group analyst offering psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy to individuals and groups at our Hove practice.  She offers a free telephone consultation for anyone interested in exploring further the possibility of joining a therapy group.

 

Further reading by Claire Barnes – 

Is a Therapy Group Right for Me? Am I Right for a Therapy Group?

What happens in Therapy Groups? The role of the Therapist

What happens in Group Therapy: Mirroring

The Problem with Change

What is it like being in a Psychotherapy Group? Case study – Joe

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Is a Therapy Group Right for Me? Am I Right for a Therapy Group?

Are you finding it hard to know if group therapy is what you need or want? Below, I outline a few of considerations that might be helpful when thinking about joining a group.

Considering a Therapy Group?
You may have had a group suggested to you or know someone who is in or has been in a group. Perhaps you are aware of difficulties arising for you in groups and want to explore these further. And/or maybe you have had individual therapy in the past or recently and feel you have explored what you needed to in that work.

Whatever has led you to think about joining a therapy group, the idea is likely to feel a new and unknown prospect for you.

Group Therapy and ‘Real Life’
Group Therapy is often described as being closer to ‘real life’ than individual therapy. The other people in the group are not there in a professional role and although the group therapy culture is one of respect and support, members are also encouraged to respond and relate in authentic and spontaneous ways to each other. For some people this is off-putting but for others this is an attractive proposition and seen as a way of more directly experiencing some of the relationship dynamics they might have struggled with in the past or present.

The constant mirroring in groups between members offers ongoing feedback (what happens in groups: mirroring). Many people find this helps them develop a stronger idea of who they are in relation to others. If you are aware that you struggle with your sense of self or identity you will likely benefit from being in a therapy group where you can experience feedback from others as well as observe for yourself your similarities and differences.

Group members tend towards being supportive to each other but do, when the group is working well, offer a realistic mix of positive and challenging responses to each other. Some people who feel particularly fragile in the face of less positive feedback from others can find this too threatening a prospect.

Is this the right time for a group?
If, for example, you have had a very recent trauma or bereavement you may feel you need some more focussed one to one help on your individual circumstances and a group may not therefore be the place at this stage for you. However, this might not feel clear cut and the group therapist would be able to explore this with you. They might even be able to offer to work with you individually over your recent experiences until you feel ready for a group.

Groups and Belonging
Group therapy can be particularly helpful for people who have conflicts around belonging. This might relate to their family history, perhaps feeling they were always outside the family for different reasons, or it might connect to other aspects of their history or identities. Groups give a powerful sense of belonging. Once you join a group you are always part of it. Even after people leave, they are remembered as part of the group’s history. Groups also allow members to move in and out of experiences of outsider and insider-ness. This can offer experiences of, and help understand, relationships to belonging.

Isolation and shame
Like issues around belonging, groups can be particularly helpful for those who feel trapped by feelings of shame and alienation (shame). Most people find an immediate relief in a therapy group when they start to share their worst feelings and thoughts. The chances are always likely that at least someone in the group (and very often the majority) will feel similarly. Usually new members find that shameful thoughts, feelings or experiences become quickly normalised by the rest of the group.

For some though, the idea of making public what feels shameful is too big a step. Some people might benefit from seeing an individual therapist first where they can ‘test out’ their secret feelings, if the idea of speaking in a group feels too frightening.

Some feelings of isolation are easier to dispense with than others. Being in a group does not necessarily stop the individual having these feelings, and indeed the public nature of the group can heighten them. However, it is this very nature of group therapy that creates an opportunity to directly understand and address these difficulties.

The Therapy Group as Alternative Family System
Being in a group can feel like being in a family. Group members can start to represent family members to each other.
Families have their own ‘systems’, but the group creates an alternative (generally more benign and authentic) system which challenges the unconscious assumptions of members’ family systems.

This aspect of groups includes the opportunity to explore dynamics from past and present with siblings (Sibling Rivalry Part 1 and 2). Group members can often feel strong sibling-like feelings towards each other.
People who have had difficult family dynamics growing up, in my experience, gain a lot from the way the therapy group offers this alternative family system and allows explorations of sibling relationships.

What if you don’t like Groups…
If you do not like groups and the idea of being in a group scares you, you may, understandably, not want to join one. However, this might well be why a group could be the right kind of therapy for you. I explored this in more depth in another blog called ‘if you don’t like groups, could it be time to join one‘.

Commitment and Ambivalence
Joining a group requires making a commitment from the outset. Most group therapists will ask that you agree to a minimum of between 6 months and a year. This is an important requirement because someone arriving and leaving quickly can disrupt the group. So, I end this piece with the first question you perhaps need to ask yourself – can you practically make this commitment at this time.

This is a different question than having mixed feelings or ambivalence which is very normal and common when thinking about joining a group.

If you are not sure about whether you can or want to make the commitment, the group therapist can explore your uncertainty with you and help you decide.

Summary
This piece touches on some of the different considerations about joining a therapy group. I have not covered all aspects but focussed on those dilemmas and considerations that, have come to light most often in my experience of helping people think about joining a therapy group.

 

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Claire Barnes, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

 

Claire Barnes is an experienced UKCP registered psychotherapist and group analyst offering psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy to individuals and groups at our Hove practice.

 

Further reading by Claire Barnes

The Problem with Change

What is it like being in a Psychotherapy Group? Case study – Joe

Silences in Therapy

Sibling Rivalry – Part 1

Sibling Rivalry – Park 2

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What The Role of the Therapist in Therapy Groups?

This piece is part of a series offering thoughts on the experience of being in a therapy group. It may be helpful to read if you are thinking about joining a group or running groups or if you are already in a group. 

When I am discussing with someone about joining a group, a common question is often around my role as therapist in the group.  Below I outline different aspects of the group therapist’s role as I see it. 

Dynamic Administrator

One important aspect of role of the therapist is to take care of the administration of the group. This includes managing boundaries and making decisions that maintain the group as a safe therapeutic space. This is called Dynamic Administration. 

This role includes assessing and deciding who will be in the group and establishing a physically safe and uninterrupted space for the group to meet in. It also includes setting out and maintaining boundaries for the group to keep it operating safely, consistently, and therapeutically.  

Group Preparation

The group therapist will also help the individual prepare for joining a group. As part of this, they will invite the potential member to speculate what kinds of experiences could be helpful, and what might feel more challenging, in the group. This can sometimes be a general discussion but is particularly useful when based on what the therapist and individual already know about their history – especially their history of groups. (see How important are our groups?)

The Group Therapist in the Group

One of the things I always say, in response to questions about how I will be in the group, is that I follow the group rather than lead it. This rejection of the role of group ‘leader’ is central to group analysis and its democratic principles. Instead of being called a leader, the therapist in Group Analysis is called a conductor. 

In group analysis, the therapist as is viewed as another member of the group. This does not mean they are not present in the role of therapist but more that the task of therapy is also shared with the group. 

The therapist as another member also refers to the concept of a network that all the members create together through their communications and relationships in the group – consciously and unconsciously. The group therapist is a part of this network and influences it – and is influenced by it – like every other member. 

Although they are a member of the group the conductor is very much there as a therapist and not a patient. So, they will act in similar ways to a therapist in individual work. They will not – or very rarely – disclose personal information and their focus is on the therapeutic needs of the group and the individuals in the group. 

My experience as the group therapist or conductor is that I move in and out of different positions in the group process. Sometimes I feel very central and very much a part of discussions, other times I am more in an observer’s role. When I speak it can sometimes be to the group as a whole or other times to an individual or individuals in the group.

As a group develops and becomes more used to working therapeutically together, I find how I take up my role often changes as well. What the group might want from me at the very start is often different as time shifts. And these changes can also take place from session to session. Individuals also might need or want different things from me as they do from other members, and this changes as well. 

Summary

This is a brief account of the role of the group therapist or group conductor, but I hope it has been able to give a flavour of what it might be like in a therapy group in relation to the therapist. I have described three aspects of the group therapist’s role – dynamic administration, preparing the individual joining a group, and the role of conductor in the group. 

 

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Claire Barnes, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

 

Claire Barnes is an experienced UKCP registered psychotherapist and group analyst offering psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy to individuals and groups at our Hove practice.

 

Further reading by Claire Barnes

The Problem with Change

What is it like being in a Psychotherapy Group? Case study – Joe

Silences in Therapy

Sibling Rivalry – Part 1

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Group Analytic Psychotherapy – the slow open group

The name ‘Slow Open Group’ was adopted to reflect the nature of the psychological process of opening ourselves to our collective experience in our families, culture and social milieu. Slow, because it takes time, Open because people will come and go over time as they do in our lives.

The global pandemic has demonstrated, in a terrible way, the potential harm we are doing to our environment. It has reminded us of our connectiveness with others both at the level of our community and globally. The vaccine and getting it is both a personal act of protection whilst at the same time a civic duty protecting others.

The extraordinary benefits of our connectedness via social media and technology has raised our knowledge of the worldwide suffering from this disease. At the same time we are both informed and sharing in the emotional fallout of so many losses and bewildered at our personal suffering.

Therefore we seek psychotherapy or psychoanalysis in order to understand our emotional reactions; the implicit and explicit meaning of our lives. The implicit, what is going on in our mind and body. The explicit what is happening around us in our world and intimate relationships that triggers influence our responses. The act of choosing to enter therapy is a willingness to begin a journey that will continue throughout our lives.

 

To enquire about group sessions with Thea Beech, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

Thea Beech is a Psychotherapist and Group Analyst. A Member of The Institute of Group Analysis and Registered with the UKCP. She now works in Private Practice after a long career in Healthcare related industries in the UK. She later taught in Universities South Africa on Group Work and Eating Disorders. She has written on Group Analysis and Eating Disorders. She was part of a small team who developed the Centre for Group Analysis in Cape Town. Thea is available at our Brighton and Hove Practice.

 

Further reading by Thea Beech

Groups for Mental Health

Group Psychotherapy in a post ‘Pandemic World’

Termination and endings in Psychotherapy

What is Social Unconsciousness?

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What happens in Group Therapy: Mirroring

In this and other blogs I try and describe and discuss what it is like being in a therapy group. Here, I focus on the phenomenon of mirroring in groups which is an important group analytic concept, process, and experience.

Mirroring and Early Development

To understand why mirroring is important in any therapy, it is helpful to understand its role in early childhood development. Early in life, the baby relies on the care giver/s to provide ‘mirror reactions’ – that is, responses mirroring back their self. An obvious example might be a baby smiles and a parent mirrors back the smile they see the baby making. This helps the infant develop a distinction between ‘what is me’ and ‘what is not me’. In other words, a sense of self. Many of us have not had enough or effective enough mirroring early on in our lives and one of the key therapeutic elements of all talking therapies seems to be the corrective experience of having oneself mirrored back.

The Therapy Group as a Hall of Mirrors

Mirroring is a particularly important experience in group therapy and Foulkes (a founder of group analysis) likened groups to ‘a hall of mirrors’.

In a therapy group, members constantly reflect their responses to each other, while at the same time see themselves reflected, or not, in the behaviours and communications of others. As an individual in the group over time these reflections and reactions help to create a picture of oneself in relationship to others. As Foulkes put it:

A person sees themself, or part of themself – often a repressed part of themself – reflected in the interactions of other group members. They see them reacting in a way they do themselves, or in contrast to their own behaviour. They get to know themselves … by the effect they have upon others and the picture they form of them. 

Foulkes p 110 Therapeutic Group Analysis (my changes from masculine to neutral pronouns)

Vignette

To give a picture of mirroring at play in a group, below is a fictionalised account of a fictional group discussion between 4 members A, B, C, D

A is talking about his childhood and his experience of his disapproving father. B comments that the way A describes his father reminds her of sometimes how he is in the group. A goes quiet.

C says to B that she felt she came in too critically towards A, she often seems to be down on him. B says that A reminds her of her own critical father.

C says she is always much more struck by A’s vulnerability and wonders why B can’t see this. She’s worried now that he’s become silent.

A says he’s remembering last week an argument with his son who was angry he was always on his back. He realises he can be like his father at times.

D points out how C herself had jumped in to defend A. C wonders about it in terms of her own father who she felt was bullied by her mother. C says she envies how B seems to be able to say what she thinks. She always feels she needs to protect the other person.

A recognises he can be disapproving sometimes in the group and in his family. But he has never thought of himself as vulnerable. He feels moved by C’s protection, but it also feels new and strange to him.

In this vignette you can hopefully see the analogy of the hall of mirrors at play. The group members are constantly reacting to each other. The more the group allows openness and spontaneity the more can be revealed.

For example, the members reveal two different aspects of A seen by B and C. A is familiar with one but unaware or in denial of the other. He is moved when his vulnerability is seen but also disconcerted. B and C while having genuine but different responses to A also then recognise the parts of themselves or not that they are seeing in him – and for C what she also sees in B.

Responses to Mirroring

Mirror reactions can reveal ‘truths’ which may then be responded to by the individual in a range of ways. Mirroring in group therapy often operates at a complex and spontaneous level and can go on consciously and unconsciously, verbally and non-verbally. This experience is then hopefully utilised therapeutically by the group and the group therapist.

In my constructed vignette, the group members’ observations and responses are conscious and easy to verbalise. They are all able to make use of their responses to each other and the discussion is constructive and productive. It’s perhaps easy to see how their insights could lead to further therapeutic explorations in relation to past and current relationships. In a live group session however, responses to feedback can be more varied and complex.

“affect, understanding or intuition seen in or associated with others, can reveal truths about the self that may be welcomed, opposed, taken flight from or attacked.

Schlapobersky p 255 From the Couch to the Circle: Group Analytic Psychotherapy in Practice

Some ‘truths’ are deeply unconscious and like in the case of A can feel disconcerting when exposed. Others are harder in other ways to receive and may take time to be utilised, if ever.

Conclusion

The process of mirroring is only one aspect of what goes on in groups. However, it plays a key role in the group therapeutic experience. Many people seem to find group therapy particularly helpful for their confidence and sense of identity. While this will be down to many factors, mirroring between group members plays an essential part, helping the individual develop a sense and understanding of who they are.

 

To enquire about psychotherapy sessions with Claire Barnes, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

 

Claire Barnes is an experienced UKCP registered psychotherapist and group analyst offering psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy to individuals and groups at our Hove practice.

 

Further reading by Claire Barnes

What is it like being in a Psychotherapy Group? Case study – Joe

Silences in Therapy

Sibling Rivalry – Part 1

Sibling Rivalry – Park 2

What is loneliness?

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Groups for Mental Health

“What we cannot hold we cannot process, what we cannot process we cannot transform, what we cannot transform haunts us. It takes another mind to help us heal ours. It takes other minds and hearts to help us grow and re-grow the capacities we have to transform suffering.” Joseph Bobrow

I would like you to consider the above quote in relationship your mental wellbeing. Are you confused by your reactions to thoughts, emotions and feelings, do they seem to come out of the blue? In a group you have a space, with others, to connect with and explore where these feelings and emotions are coming from.

In Group Analytic Psychotherapy, we learn to identify emotional states of mind, fear, anxiety, anger, love, and hate whilst we experience the biological reaction in our bodies; the mental and physical experience of trauma and stress.

At the present time we are facing the daily trauma of living through a pandemic that is killing people worldwide. We are bombarded with information through social media. We try to make sense of what is true/real and what is not. The social and collective nature of what we are experiencing impacts on our relationships with those close to us. The social matrix is changing rapidly we feel out of control, we look to those in power to take control and feel angry when they seem to let us down. This leads to greater divisions in the social matrix divisions occur that lead to greater anxiety and chaos, which, can predispose us to difficulties with regulating our reaction in our work or close intimate relationships.

The group provides a space for the transformation of our thoughts and preoccupations, working through our experiences, creating understanding through thinking, talking and feeling the emotion behind anger and stress. The group space, with an experience group conductor, can hold and contain you through this process.

 

To enquire about group sessions with Thea Beach, please contact her here, or to view our full clinical team, please click here.

 

Dorothea Beech is a Group Analyst with many years experience working in the UK and overseas.  She worked as A Group Analyst in South Africa as a Lecturer at Cape Town UCT and at Kwa Zulu Natal University in Durban, lecturing on a Masters Program in Group Work.  Her MA in Applied research was on Eating disorders. Her interests are in cultural diversity and trans-generational influences on the individual.  Thea is available at our Brighton and Hove Practice.

 

Further reading by Thea Beech

Group Psychotherapy in a post ‘Pandemic World’

Termination and endings in Psychotherapy

What is Social Unconsciousness?

Crossing Borders – Group Analytic Society Symposium, Berlin 2017

Face to Face and Online Therapy Help Available Now

Click Here to Enquire

Counselling and therapy for organisations

Whether you run or work in a large organisation spanning multiple countries and many offices, or you are part of a business with a small team, mental health is critical. It plays a major role in making sure staff are healthy and happy but also in productivity, working relationships, staff turnover, sick days and more. We offer corporate counselling and therapy services for businesses and their staff covering a wide range of issues from depression and anxiety to managing stress, relationships and confidence issues.

EAP – employee assistance programme

EAPs are offered by many larger organisation to assist and support staff during challenging times be that work-related or personal issues. We are able to work with existing EAP programmes to supply therapy and counselling services. Employee assistance programmes can have many levels from internal HR support, annual mental health reviews and discussions, to specific personal help.

Therapy and counselling services for businesses

Our workplace counselling and other services do not have to be part of an EAP. We are able to offer bespoke help to any organisation whether it is to help and support single staff members and managers or to roll out more general support for teams and departments through individual or group sessions. Our highly experienced practitioners are on hand to deliver first class support for staff ranging from entry level team members to board level support.

Counselling for employees

We support many employees using our range of therapy and counselling services. Whether you’re a business owner looking for therapy services for your employees, or you’re an employee looking for ideas for support to take to your boss, we have a range of corporate services to suit you.

Stress therapy for business owners

Running a business can be rewarding, but if you’re a business owner, putting your mental health at the top of your priority list can help you run your business more efficiently. Talking to a therapist can be a positive step if you don’t know where to start with your stress and anxiety levels. At Brighton and Hove Psychotherapy, we will work with you to manage the stress of running a business.

Take an HR initiative

Many HR managers are taking action to provide mental health support for employees. We establish long-term relationships with professionals and work closely with HR representatives to provide expert therapy to those in the business who need it.

What is corporate counselling?

Corporate counselling and therapy can take many forms but is generally a process by which employees are able to access mental health services, from CBT and bereavement counselling to executive coaching and much more. It can be a very important part of the overall wellbeing processes for a business with many benefits to staff and the organisation as a whole.

Bereavement counselling for businesses

Bereavement can have a huge impact on the emotional and psychological wellbeing of a person. The death of a loved one – whether a parent, a partner or, unthinkably, a child – is an experience no one can be fully prepared to deal with. However, alongside this, it is something we will all experience at some point in our lives – grief through bereavement, which is the universal leveller. The feelings associated with grief are similar to the feelings of depression, and it can make continuing with normal tasks, such as going to work, a huge struggle.

Common corporate mental health issues

The modern workplace can be a very stressful place. Sales targets, revenue goals, working relationships with other team members and workload can all be factors that cause a range of issues. Stress is common, but stress can often lead to other issues including depression and anxiety. The pressure to achieve on a personal level and dealing with promotion related concerns can also play a very big role in the mental health of anyone in the organisation. Businesses must also be aware of personal issues around money and relationships, family deaths and more, while they may not be a business or work issue they can have a huge impact on the individual and the business as a result. Counselling for business is becoming more and more common and for good reason.

Depression, anxiety, panic attacks, stress, anger issues, addiction and obsessive behaviours are all common in the workplace and can all have a serious impact on individuals, people who work alongside them and the business as a whole. We are able to offer corporate counselling and therapy services to businesses to allow them to support their staff and help improve their mental health as well as deal with crisis issues.

Why is staff mental health important?

Companies are far more reliant on the mental wellbeing of their staff than many realise. When a member of a team is in crisis or suffering long term chronic issues like anxiety it can have a profound impact on the business. The individual’s performance will be impaired, they may avoid certain situations like a sales pitch when they would otherwise have won the business. Depression, for example, can lead to long periods off work, it may prevent some team members working together in a productive way and so damages productivity in the organisation. Often mental health issues can lead to other behaviours, anger issues in the workplace can not only affect the individual suffering but also those around them, which in turn can lead to further mental health issues.

Corporate mental health is as, if not more, important than physical health when it comes to looking after staff and running a functioning business. We offer workplace and employee counselling services as well as more in-depth services around psychotherapy.

Making your team and organisation aware there is mental health support is a very positive thing for any business to do. To discuss our services more and how we can help your business function, grow and be more productive please get in touch to book an initial high level consultation.

We have practices in Lewes and Hove and have clients from right across Sussex as well as London and further afield. To find out about the help Brighton & Hove Psychotherapy can offer get in touch with us today.

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What is it like being in a Psychotherapy Group? Case study – Joe

In my experience, when exploring joining a therapy group, people often ask what it will be like. I thought it might be helpful to write a fictional narrative to give a flavour of the therapeutic experience of being in a group. This ‘case’ is not based on a real individual although some of the conflicts and difficulties will undoubtedly feel familiar to many. To keep this blog as a short read, I have simplified the details, and have focussed on just one aspect of a person’s history, difficulties, and group experience.

Joe

Joe would always say his childhood was fine. Nothing bad or traumatic happened. No real problems. As an adult, however, Joe felt increasingly alienated in his life and relationships.  In particular, he had struggled to maintain long-term relationships, which was causing him pain, disappointment and worry about the future. 

After his last relationship ended in a familiar way, Joe came into therapy with a sense of loneliness and emptiness. Through discussing this with the therapist, Joe came to feel that a group might be helpful for his difficulties.

Early stages

Once in the group, Joe found that by listening to the way others talked about their experiences, and hearing their feedback to his own, he could start to formulate some different perspectives on himself. 

Particularly new for Joe, was an insight into the ways he had felt neglected as a child. Joe began to connect old memories and recall new ones which gave a picture of a lonely child overlooked by two busy and distracted parents. It was a shock to recall this vulnerable and neglected younger self.

Joe was immediately struck by the supportive and open atmosphere in the group. At first, he found the curiosity and empathy that other group members showed towards him strange. Over time the other members pointed out how often he dismissed his emotional experiences, and the ways that he avoided being taken care of in the group.  Joe realised this was the first time in his life where he felt his emotional needs might be important. 

New Insights

Accepting that his early experiences might have been difficult and impactful was the first step for Joe. He began to realise how he had developed an emotional independence as a means of survival and had therefore set out to deny the needy part of himself. Keeping his needs at bay also required creating a distance between himself and others. Joe was desperately fearful of this defensive system falling apart, and of being thrown back into the loneliness of his childhood. 

A few months in to being in the group, Joe had an important insight that his relationships often began to fall apart around the same time that he started to feel an emotional commitment. Joe’s break-through was heightened by being able to link this to what he was discovering about himself and the feedback he was getting about the way he pushed people away in the group.

As time went on, Joe was able to open-up more in the group. He explored the patterns of relationships failing and was also able to learn from others who also reflected on their own historical and current relationship struggles, as well as developments and successes. 

Making External Changes

After about 18 months Joe was feeling settled in the group. He had started a new relationship, and with the support of the group was more conscious of what was getting stirred up in him and mindful of his impulses to escape the intimacy this person offered him. 

Crisis

The group had helped Joe get in touch with the painful experiences of his childhood that he had tried to deny and avoid. He found himself increasingly in touch with emotional needs that he had not had sufficiently met as a child. This made it harder to tolerate the times in the group where he felt unheard or overlooked. The more Joe opened himself up to his need, the more he felt wounded and frustrated when it was not met. 

Joe announced very suddenly that he was going to leave the group. The group members questioned the timing of this decision and Joe agreed to give it more time and thought.

The group and therapist helped Joe to think about the parallels with the times in his life where he tended to finish a relationship just as it was beginning to be. Joe realised that the frustration and upset he had been feeling in the group was bound up with intimacy. He started to see that leaving at this point was another way of avoiding the frustrations of having intimate relationships. Being able to make a link between what was happening to him in the group and his pattern of relationships helped Joe to properly understand himself on a profound and deeper level. 

3 years on, Joe is still in the group. Last week the other members and therapist were delighted when he told them he and his partner have decided to get married. 

Discussion

Joe benefited enormously from the therapy group from the outset and had been able to make significant progress and changes in his life, However, it was when his ‘problem’ manifested in such a live way in the group that something was able to transform on a deeper level. Joe’s frustration with the group was a turning point in his therapy as he had to confront pain reminiscent of his childhood and see how his habitual strategies of ‘ending’ relationships was a way of avoiding the reality of intimacy. 

Claire Barnes is an experienced UKCP registered psychotherapist and group analyst offering psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy to individuals and groups at our Hove practice.

 

Further reading by Claire Barnes

Silences in Therapy

Sibling Rivalry – Part 1

Sibling Rivalry – Park 2

What is loneliness?

Face to Face and Online Therapy Help Available Now

Click Here to Enquire

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Group Psychotherapy in a post ‘Pandemic World’

I wonder how you have coped with the forced isolation imposed on all of us during the corona virus.  Has the weekly hand clapping made you feel more part of your local community providing some small contact with others during the week? Or have you been part of a family meeting on Zoom or with friends?

Now, that we are beginning to return to more familiar routines you may be wondering if joining a psychotherapy group might help with the re-adjustment to the ‘new norm.’

Our relationships with family, friends and fellow workers can be a source of inspiration and support; however, often it is these relationships that baffles us.  Joining a group can offer a space for you to share experiences and gain an understanding of yourself.

Why should you join a group?  Ask yourself, what are the difficulties I need to address?  These usually fall into one of two groups:

Emotions and feelings – which disrupt life including general performance of daily living skills. You may be taking medication to treat the affects of a disorder.  Common symptoms include anxiety and depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, eating disorders and social anxiety.

Relational Challenges – we are dependent on our relationships with others to live a happy and secure life.  However, these often challenge us in ways we do not understand. The signs and symptoms above are often caused or cause problems in relationships both personal and at work.

What happens next?  When you contact Brighton & Hove Psychotherapy, your enquiry will be passed onto me.  I will then contact you via your chosen method of contact to discuss your concerns.  We will then set up an appointment to meet.

The initial Session – at this first meeting, you and the psychotherapist will have a discussion in order to get to know you. If you both feel joining a group would be helpful another session will be set up.  A questionnaire will be sent to you to complete.

Follow-up – at the next session, we will use the questionnaire to follow-up your history, which will have formed the bulk of the first session. What are you hoping for by joining the group? Depending on your needs for preparation prior before starting the group will be agreed.  I will ask your permission to share your name with the group in order to check out whether there are any boundary issues i.e. you do not know personally anyone in the group already.

Usually there will be at least one more session before you join the group.

The first Session – joining the group for the first time is always a challenge, you already know the psychotherapist and the names of the group members.

There is no set agenda, the group runs using free association.  The boundaries of the group are – (1) always start and finish on time, (2) it will meet in the same venue, (3) it is a confidential space which each person agrees to before joining the group and (4) the members of the group do not have contact outside of the group. It provides a predictable space and time every week for a minimum of 40 to 42 weeks a year.

 

FAQ’s

Can I be in a group and continue with my individual psychotherapy?

No, the group is the primary therapy for the whole time the person is in the group.  A process called splitting can occur if group members are attending psychotherapy outside of the group.

How does Group Psychotherapy work?

The group provides a space to explore relationships in action.  As we all come from families or experiences of care in our young life, these influences stay with us and shape how we are later on as adults.  The small group offers a space to reconnect with that experience and re-work, often-traumatic events, in a safe and secure environment.  In addition to making connections to the past, we can explore current relationships in our families, couples, social and work life. Change of this sort takes time therefore you will need to make a commitment of time for processing and integration.

How confidential is the group?

The group is a confidential space where members of the group are asked not to have contact outside of the group or to share what happens in the group outside of the group space.

How many people are in the group?

A small group has a maximum of 8 members, 9 with the conductor.

Why is the Group Psychotherapist called a Conductor?

This relates to the role of the psychotherapist in the group.  As the group matures the group members become familiar with each other; they know each other’s stories and begin to see the patterns each one may be playing out in their lives.  The role of the psychotherapist will be to bring together the voices much the same way as the conductor in an orchestra brings in various instruments during a performance.

Dorothea Beech is a Group Analyst with many years experience working in the UK and overseas.  She worked as A Group Analyst in South Africa as a Lecturer at Cape Town UCT and at Kwa Zulu Natal University in Durban, lecturing on a Masters Program in Group Work.  Her MA in Applied research was on Eating disorders. Her interests are in cultural diversity and trans-generational influences on the individual.  Thea is available at our Brighton and Hove Practice.

 

Further reading by Thea Beech

Termination and endings in Psychotherapy

What is Social Unconsciousness?

Crossing Borders – Group Analytic Society Symposium, Berlin 2017

What is a Psychotherapy Group?

Face to Face and Online Therapy Help Available Now

Click Here to Enquire

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Silences in Therapy

Silences are an inevitable and potentially helpful part of the therapeutic process. However, a number of people I see as a therapist express a feeling that they are not getting something right when a silence arises in our work together. The psychotherapy world (in particular the psychoanalytic and group analytic fields) has also had some difficulties historically with accepting the value of silence.

A few years ago, I wrote about silence in relation to group analysis (Barnes, 2015) I felt compelled to do this as I had been working with a psychotherapy group that was gripped for some time by long, crippling silences. These silences affected the whole group and were intensely paralysing – for the group members and for me. I found it hard to help the group but also wasn’t helped myself by the general absence of clinical literature on this subject.

In my paper I made a case for the value and role of silence in therapy and specifically therapy groups. I explored how silence is a part of speech and that all speaking relies on pauses and breaks for our communications to make sense (this is, perhaps, most obviously understood in music). These rhythms and patterns in our communications are particularly important and central to the processes of therapy.

By just seeing silences as unhelpful we lose the opportunity to be curious about the different kinds of silences and what they might mean.  Below are some of the kinds of silences that can come up in the therapy relationship.

  • A common silence in therapy arises when both therapist and patient, or members of a therapy group, pull away from verbal interaction and retreat into a more internal space. Often, in my experience, this is when a discussion then moves onto a deeper level.
  • Sometimes silences are used to protect from scrutiny. Using silence as a defense can be bound up with early experiences of intrusion or a difficulty in asserting one’s self in interpersonal relations – the only protection then is to withdraw.
  • Then there is the paralysed silence, like the one that seemed to incapacitate my group for so long. People often say they can’t think in this kind of silence. When we’ve explored it more it seems they feel increasingly self-conscious in the silence and under pressure to break it – like it’s all too much responsibility. This seems to me bound up with shame.
  • But sometimes words just fail and just don’t feel enough. Silence can be used to convey this. Or to show a respect for the enormity of what is being felt.

In thinking about silence and speaking it’s also important to bear in mind the thoughts of French psychoanalyst Andre Green who pointed out how “behind the noise of words speech can be silent” (Green 1972). At times we talk in order to silence something uncomfortable, or just too painful.

Holding a silence can be a way – perhaps sometimes the only way – of staying with what feels difficult and communicating this.

References –

Barnes 2015 ‘Speaking with Silence. An Exploration of Silence and its Relationship to Speech in Analytic Groups’, Group Analysis, Vol 48 number 1

Green 1972’ On Private Madness,’ reprint Hogarth Press 1986

 

Claire Barnes is an experienced UKCP registered psychotherapist and group analyst offering psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy to individuals and groups at our Hove practice.

 

Further reading by Claire Barnes

Sibling Rivalry – Part 1

Sibling Rivalry – Park 2

What is loneliness?

50 years on, how free are we from homophobia?

If you don’t like groups, could it be time to join one?

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