What is Group Therapy?

As we memorized all the different mental health disorders in my graduate school classes years ago, we also learned that each of them can be treated by helping people improve their relationships.

Wait- what?

I’m happy to recommend some easy reading like Extraordinary Relationships by Roberta M. Gilbert, if you are interested in understanding how improving relationships can improve mental health- and other aspects of one’s life. I think it is super interesting, but this is what I do for a living, so I get it if you don’t want to spend your Saturday learning about Systems Theory. If my dentist recommended a book on the concepts he uses to make my mouth healthy, I’d hard pass.

Short version of the story is, since the 1950’s or so, the doctors who study and treat mental illness recognized similarities in the families of their psych patients. Not only were the patients showing the same psychiatric symptoms, all of the patients’ moms were showing the same traits and behaviors. Imagine if everyone who showed up where you work was driving the same car- wouldn’t you be interested in that coincidence!?

If the individuals who struggled with their own mental health also had family members who showed similar traits to the other patients’ family members, the doctors couldn’t help but wonder if maybe making a change in the relationships would effect a change in the individuals. (Spoiler- it absolutely does affect an individual when there is a change in their relationships. If you’ve ever gone through a breakup, you have experienced firsthand- YOUR moment-to-moment thoughts, feelings, and choices are different when that relationship changes.)

Changing the way you relate to other people and improving your ability to be in relationships is at the heart of improved health.

Group therapy is like a training ground for being better at interacting and relating to other people. We learn how we come across to other people. We practice being honest and vulnerable by providing feedback to each other. And we take risks that we can’t take IRL because we all show up to group ready to try new things and take chances, knowing that it is a safe place to do so.