This article explores group therapy upclose.

Group Therapy





Between 1986 and 1992, I was working as a therapist for a counseling center. It was during that 6 years of employment, that I as an outpatient counselor, was trying with my director to come up with a more effective way to work with those unfortunate enough to have depression, panic attacks and schizophrenia. We came up with the idea to form an activity group in combination with individual therapy. It was decided that 8 people from my caseload would be selected for this pilot group. We had two males and 6 females. It was also decided that the individual sessions would continue at the rate of one per week and the activities would be held once per month.

The age ranges of these clients ranged from 30s to 50s. It was racially inclusive. And the major thing these people had in common was diagnoses that were crippling them socially, physically and emotionally.

One young black female, had a panic attack diagnosis with agoraphobia. She was literally housebound. She had told me that it was so bad for her that she had trouble going to her mailbox, which was maybe a hundred feet from her house. She was somewhat reluctant to join this group, but it is my belief that due to her trust in me, she was able to not only join but to probably make the most remarkable progress of any of these members. I had the opportunity to view her actually having a panic attack at a mall in Atlanta on one of our outings. She was in the back of a store, and called for me to come to her. She then told me she felt she was having a panic attack and felt she was smothering and was going to pass out. I took her by the hand that day and walked her out the front door of a crowded store. We laughed and joked as I told her that I wondered what the people in that mall were going to think about a white male holding hands with a black female. This seemed to help calm her down as we walked around the mall finally sitting by a waterfall inside the mall. She became calm and had no problems for the rest of the activity. This lady a few months later astounded our psychiatarist and myself by getting on a plane by herself and going to Chicago to visit her father for two weeks. This object of this intervention was her to meet her fears. She did a remarkable job during this time and was a huge success story.

Another person, a male, was paranoid schizophrenic. He was a bright male in his 50s, who could hold an interesting conversation with anyone if he could get to the point where he could trust him or her. He gradually warmed up to the other members and became very good friends with the other male member.

The others were depressed individuals, who just couldn’t seem to turn the corner with either their grief , depression and or lonliness. They were just not able at that time to cope with life very well.

In our activity group, we would meet after each activity with the entire group for them to plan the next activity. They planned such things as cookouts, fishing trips, visiting a mall in Atlanta, Christmas parties, which included exchanging gifts, bowling, as well as trips to different activities in the vicinity of the town in which they all lived.

Never in my wildest dreams was I prepared for what took place between these 8 group members. None of them were acquainted with each other at the onset. But in a few weeks, they begin to make a join with one another and I can honestly say they all came to love and appreciate each other.

They all improved mental health wise to the point that I didn’t think they needed treatment in about 6 months. They were not terminated at that time though as they were opposed to stopping treatment. But they graduated one at a time over the course of the next few months. They had made tremendous transference with the therapist. They were told before the group started that they would be expected eventually to hold this group on their own and keep it going by electing a group director. There was one major problem with this. There was only one group member that could drive and the responsibility for them getting to and from their events was severely hampered by this. They never did really run the group by themselves.

However, I still feel the group was a success and this format was used a couple of more times. I do not believe the other groups were as successful as this one. I still don’t know what made this work so well. I think that it was a success for at least two reasons, they were all ready for change and they had good chemistry between them.

I am sad to report that two of these members are now deceased, one from natural causes and I learned that one committed suicide. I found out about these deaths several years after I had changed jobs. I read the obituary of one of these dear ladies in the paper one day and went to the funeral home to pay my respects. As I stood there that day, my heart was very sad, but I had and still have beautiful memories of this lady. She was what I call the mother of the group and all of the group members loved her dearly.

I am proud that this group was successful. When I think back on these dear people, I still remember them all by names. I can still see them in my mind’s eye. I know that I only played a small part in their success as the group facilitator. They did the work.