One group I was in they did limit the crying as in if someone needed or started crying that person was to leave the room and one of the facilitators would help them in a more private setting. The reason for that rule was because someone in the group was using crying for attention from the whole group and nothing else could get done. No matter what the topic was this woman would go into her crying routine and then for an hour the whole group was at a standstill of watching a few try to calm this person and give her suggestions. once the rule of taking the crying outside the room began this woman never had a "crying" session again. from the get go she was in control of herself and able to participate without keeping the group stuck. Some people do thrive on creating chaos in groups and rules like taking the high emotions outside the room for individual help solves those type situations. I run a support group for women survivors of child sexual abuse and I do have this rule in place but have never in 4 years had to kick anyone out of the room. Crying is allowed to a certain extent in my group but repeated keep the group captive is not. I make this clear first thing by meeting the women on my own a few times before letting them into the group so that we can go over the basics and develop an emergency list for that person so that they do have contacts for when those high emotions hit that this type of group sometimes gives.
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