Group Therapy is a form of counseling that includes one or more counselors working with a group of individuals that focus on a variety of mental health issues, life challenges, or a common struggle.
Group Types
- Process-Oriented Groups: Focus on the interactions among group members and the dynamics that emerge within the group
- Psychoeducational Groups: Provide information and educate on certain topics
- Support Groups: Focuses on providing a safe space to share experiences, feelings, and coping strategies, and to receive emotional support from others.
- Skill Development Groups: Aimd to teach specific skills, such as coping strategies or social skills.
Structure
Group structure is essential to running an efficient and beneficial counseling group. Group sizes can span from 5-12 individuals and 1 to 2 professionally trained clinicians to facilitate the group. Group sessions last from 60 minutes to 2 hours and can take place weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. The goal of the counselor facilitating the group is to create a safe environment to help enable individuals to share their concerns, learn something new, find support from their peers, and find change within themselves.
Benefits of Group
Being a part of a group can provide a sense of community, support from others, a shared experience, feedback, and accountability toward change. Within a group counseling session, individuals are able to have a sense of community through a shared experience. A group for anxiety can aid someone to share their debilitating worry with the group and find that the peer to their right or left feels the same. This community and shared experiences discussed can be found in groups that foster a sense of belonging and decrease isolation and loneliness. Friendships can form through groups that last long after the group has finished. In discussing the group topics, individuals can learn from one another through constructive feedback and group accountability to continue to push toward their goals. An individual who goes to AA every week and is held accountable by his group members to continue to stay sober along with them may push him forward. Community and strength can be found in a counseling group.
Group Counseling and Scripture
Throughout God’s Word, scripture points towards the strength found in numbers. Ecclesiastes says one can be overpowered, two can defend themselves, but a cord of three strands is not easily broken. The picture that is being painted here is the strength only found in numbers. The passage talks about the strain of fighting against something. Sometimes, your life challenges may seem like a fight. Your trauma, your substance use, and your broken relationships can all seem like you are a one-stranded cord to be overpowered. But, with Christ, support from others, and a counselor, those three strands can not easily be broken. I pray that if you feel you need support and want to be stronger in numbers, you will look to a counselor or group that best suits you.
For active groups and groups coming soon, please see our Active Group Listings
Periodically, Fortify will offer group therapy and special workshops for anxiety, blended families, codependency, communication skills, design (identity) discovery, divorce recovery, men’s purity, and more (special rates apply). Check our website for updates and to sign up for the wait lists.
