Bozena Skarbek-Cielecka Psychodynamic Psychotherapist, "Seeds of Love" Company owner and creator, working in the Mental Health field. Passionate about helping others to discover their inner wisdom. She believes everyone deserves a life filled with meaningful relationships, love, and joy. Her mission is to plant seeds of love in people's hearts.
I was inspired to write something about the benefits of group work in mental health settings while facilitating experiential groups for students of psychodynamic counselling. I am very aware, that the group approach is not as popular as individual therapy, but in my opinion, the value is the same or even more. Clients working individually with a therapist have one-to-one relationships only. It means everything that is happening during a therapy session has a dual exchange. In the group, there is a constellation of multiple connections and it can enormously enrich every kind of therapeutic work. Certainly, the relational psychodynamic approach is very useful for that kind of work.
We are social creatures, and our lives don`t happen in isolation. Lots of problems if not all of them, arise in relationships with others. It all starts at the moment when we are born, but in my personal opinion, pregnancy has also great importance and influences what will happen next in our lives, as the mother prepares herself physically, emotionally, and psychologically for giving birth to her baby and finds out how she feels about the news of being pregnant. Every pregnant woman, consciously or not, is making plans for her future life together with an infant, with whom she will have the closest, most impactful relationship that can ever happen. Sometimes those relationships between mother and child are not secure enough because of insecurities or unresolved traumas, addictions, mental health problems, or unsupportive environmental issues.
Group work based on a psychodynamic approach can have many benefits for people with anxiety, depression, traumatic childhood experiences, rejection, loss, or separation. It offers a support network and provides an opportunity to meet others who experience similar mental health difficulties. It is proven that attending groups with time takes the stigma of mental health "Illness" away. Working together with group members supported and conducted by a psychotherapist or group analyst gives people a chance to look closely at their behavioral patterns, their defenses, and other self-sabotaging mechanisms that make their close relationships more complicated. All group members are openly encouraged to share their experiences, to reflect on communication with others who are in the same group, with a therapist, and finally with the group as a whole. The key interest is in the relationship between an individual and the rest of the group.
Group work is also a safe arena to try some new attitudes while being supported and held by other people. Confidentiality and all group boundaries like punctuality, regular attendance, respectful communication, and engagement during the sessions help to establish safety in the group. The main work is about getting a better understanding of ourselves and other people around us sharing the same space and similar difficulties in relationships. In psychodynamic psychotherapy, the most significant value is being able to work on relationships. Thanks to open communication, group members can experience intense emotional and cognitive exchanges which, together with a safe environment, will open the space for closeness and intimacy.
People know they are not alone in their experiences and hearing how others manage their emotions can be invaluable. Reaching out to others, and discussing coping strategies and defense mechanisms can help them overcome their difficulties. Speaking to others who try to understand their thoughts and feelings can help them to understand their condition better. Imparting their thoughts helps boost their self-esteem. Recognizing that the shared experiences can be universal removes a sense of isolation.
Group therapy is especially beneficial for those, who experience difficulties in relationships, mainly in expressing their thoughts and feelings, who have problems in recognizing their needs, and who suffer in relationships because of unconscious, never-expressed feelings towards others. The group is the best place to explore and develop new, more satisfactory contacts with other human beings. The feedback from group members and the therapist, together with inside and interpretation gives everyone a unique opportunity to reflect and to change their attitude which is not beneficial for us anymore, even using all the defenses in the past was the only way to survive.
Thanks to our interactions with others we can grow, change, and become better versions of ourselves. For some people, it takes time to be able to talk about their relational problems because of a lack of trust in others or due to some social anxiety. No one should be pressured to share anything before they are ready to do that. Every single person has got different individual rhythm to enter relationships and it must be respected.
Combining therapeutic insight and understanding of interpersonal functioning, the psychodynamic approach aims to improve integration of the individuals within their communities, families, and another social networks. There are certain areas of mental health issues, that may particularly benefit from group dynamics such as addictions, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, relationship difficulties, and self-harm.
Now I wanted to concentrate on the group therapy aims and goals. I wanted to highlight the three most important values of attending group therapy.
A. It helps individuals identify maladaptive behaviour within relationships, as there is room in group therapy for comparison.
B. It helps with emotional difficulties through feedback from the therapist and from others in the group who experience mental health problems themselves.
C. It offers a supportive environment by speaking to people who are going through similar difficulties. Group members feel less isolated and, therefore, more supported.
Irvin Yalom was the key figure and the great authority in the development of the therapy group. He listed the most significant therapeutic factors which are:
Universality
Altruism
Instillation of hope
Imparing information
Development of socializing techniques
Imitative behaviour
Cohesiveness
Existential factors
Catharsis
Interpersonal learning
("The theory and practice of group psychotherapy" Irvin Yalom, Molyn Leszcz)
Universality helps to raise self-esteem by removing your sense of isolation. People recognize that the shared experiences within the group may be universal, as they are experienced by many humans around the world.
Altruism helps develop your own personal skills and adaptive coping styles because when you are participating in a group therapy session you may find yourself able to offer help to the other group members. It gives participants a lot of satisfaction when they feel helpful to others. Later, they will try it more and more in the group and then in life itself.
Instillation of hope happens when people share how they overcame their difficulties and recovered from their breakdowns. Group therapy sessions involve people at different stages of their journey. You may find yourself in the setting with others who have been where you are now and found ways of coping in the difficult times. Seeing this can give you hope during a period of emotional struggle.
Imparting information being able to impart, share, and swap information with others can be incredibly helpful. Many group therapy members have stated that they found it helpful to learn more about other members (including treatment or access to services)
Socialising techniques allow you to improve social skills and change your interpersonal behaviour (if needed) in a safe and supportive environment. This can help to build trust in others and confidence in yourself and then you will be able to put such skills into practice outside of the therapy room, in your private life.
Imitative behaviour can be developed through observation of other people's behaviors including a therapist. People get a chance to see how others react and problem-solve and also learn through their positive behaviors.
Cohesiveness offers a sense of belonging, acceptance, and validation. Humans are herd animals by nature, they don`t like to be left alone, and for most of us being part of cohesive groups can be very comforting and emotionally nurturing.
Existential factors can give you perspective and help you to reflect on better life choices. Speaking to others about their experiences can help you learn about responsibility and the consequences of your decisions by hearing about mistakes other people make.
Catharsis refers to the experience of relief from emotional distress through an uninhibited expression of emotion. Telling your story to a group of supportive and understanding people can be incredibly cathartic and may offer relief from feelings you had previously repressed. When it happens you feel lighter and brighter because of the expressed emotions which are no more "Eating you" from inside.
Interpersonal learning happens through interaction with others who provide feedback on your behaviour and the impact it has on you. It can help to achieve a greater sense of self-awareness. Understanding your behaviors better is often the first step to recovery and a lasting change in the future.
It is worth mentioning, we lost natural connection with our communities because we don`t live together in a forest anymore. We don`t meet at the fireplace in the evenings, like indigene tribes used to do. The culture is changing and we become more and more individualistic, isolated, lonely, and, as a result, probably unhappy. Group work highlights the importance of seeking and accepting help. It is like a substitute for such community meetings, where different things can be discussed and understood within the group of people who are by your side and who instill hope in you. It symbolizes a collective endurance where both individual resilience and community support interact to bring about beautiful change.
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Bożena Skarbek-Cielecka, Psychodynamic Psychotherapist
Bozena Skarbek-Cielecka specializes in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and is fond of Adult Group Psychotherapy. Having a breakdown followed by a period of depression in her thirties, she decided to change her career from being a foreign language teacher to being a psychotherapist. After a successful treatment, she studied Art and Music Therapy first, and then she deepened her skills by studying Psychodynamic Psychotherapy at the Laboratory of Psychoeducation in Warsaw- Poland. She has since dedicated her life to helping others to overcome the darkest moments of their lives. She is passionate about Group Analysis. Studying Modern Group Analysis and finishing the Diploma in Group Analysis training, she discovered ways to help people in a shorter, more effective group therapy. She believes in human's ongoing change and growth. Awarded the European Certificate of Psychotherapy, the certificate of excellence, she is paying her "debt of gratitude" to all therapists who saved her life. She is planting seeds of love in her clients' hearts.
