Why go to a therapy group?

A group is a society in miniature.

(Through the eyes of a participant)

I come to the first meeting, the other participants are so different and so unfamiliar to me. Maybe I’m worried, maybe I’m scared? I also wonder who these people are? Why did they come here? What will come of this?

Do I want them to like me or do I think they should earn my interest… from what position do I meet new people? How do I do this? What am I demonstrating? Maybe I would like to change something?

Here I can look at it, here I can do something about it.

I watch these people, little by little I get to know them, just as they do about me. I see that in some ways we are similar to some of the participants, but completely different from others. Someone is experiencing the same problems as me, and I have the opportunity to learn how they deal with it.

I see that other group members also face difficulties that are even different from mine, and they also learn to talk about it in front of others. Then I have the opportunity to feel that I am not alone in this, that it is not so difficult for me alone.

I can see how my story, my personality, unfolds in the context of the group, under the gaze of participants and psychologists, how this story intersects with others, and also look carefully at these others. Discovering that it’s not so scary after all.