[cjmccray]

I have seen several therapists in my life, since 1991 to be exact. Not one of them has really gotten me to open up and honestly deal with my emotions. So now I'm trying group therapy and I'm having trouble with it. Each week I walk away frustrated. Some of these women want to talk about the same issues week after week. For example one want to only talk about how she is struggling with finances while another talks about how all of her vehicles are still not fit to drive. Very often these topics dominate the entire hour and a half. Is it me? I'm trying not to give up but the repitition is just frustrating me more each week.

[dragonfly2]

I love group therapy. But it takes the right clinician to keep things balanced and not let one person dominate the session. It sounds like your clinician may not be skilled in group facilitation and looking at the broader issues behind the details that everyone can relate to.

Another factor may be your level of participation. Are you proactive in bringing up topics or do you let others do the talking? If someone's going on and on about the same thing, do you say something about it? How do others in the group respond to these one-topic sessions? There may be others who are as frustrated as you are. If you're feeling unheard, let the group know. Be the first to speak up in the session.

If that doesn't seem to help, then maybe it's time to find another group.

[jellbell]

That sounds very frustrating!

I think the group therapy experience really depends on the group and what the group goal is. I participated in a therapy group once that I just wasn't ready for. It was all about motivation and finding things that make you happy and actually doing them. At the time I was too deep in my depression for that... so it didn't do me any good.

There are a lot of reasons why a group may not be the right one for you. They can be helpful and a really rewarding experience though if you can find the right one, so I would suggest you try another group.