Who does group therapy?

Does insurance cover it along with weekly sessions with your therapist? How do you like the group dynamics and dealing with everyone else's issues?

Thinking about contacting asking to join this group:

" groups are ongoing psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral, include life skills. Issues currently being covered include relationship, depression and anxiety, eating disorders, anger, self esteem, work and financial problems, addictive behaviors, childhood trauma, parenting, personality disorders."

I've done group type DBT therapy, and some group trauma therapy. I liked it in the sense that I could relate to the other clients in the program and sometimes it made me feel understood. Or sometimes I saw my own patterns in their behaviors. It can also be triggering and intense in terms of relationships with other group members or sometimes what they talk about can trigger things for you. And if you get really attached to the group leader, it can be hard to see them caring about other people in the group. But sometimes it's nice to have a break from all the attention being on you like in individual therapy. Sort of depends on how the group is run, what the focus is, etc.
I'm in Canada, don't know how insurance works where you are.

Hi,
I just started group therapy in mid July. My insurance does cover group therapy, but the amount my insurance will pay the therapist for group is so low that my therapist doesn't accept my insurance for group. But we use my insurance for individual therapy. The fee for group is $75 a week, but I negotiated lower to $60 a week. It's expensive, but I make the most of every week because of how much it is costing me.

For me it is easy to talk about other people's issues. Talking about my own stuff in group is difficult. My group is thankfully a very kind and supportive bunch. It's like sitting down with a group of friends for a chat. We talk about daily stuff and then talk about how we feel in the room at the moment. It is not structured. I know every group is different though. My therapist told me to approach group as an experimental place where I can test out behaviors and ideas and get feedback that I wouldn't normally get from people in the real world.

I recommend you give it a try if possible.

I was in a therapy group quite a few years back specifically for survivors of sexual abuse. I didn't file insurance, so I have no idea if insurance would have covered it.

That group was one of the most beneficial experiences in therapy for me. Because we all came in with a similar history, everything that went on was applicable and helpful, although incredibly painful. The greatest thing I learned from that group is empathy for myself. I realized if I felt so strongly for these other women and what they had lived through, I could do the same for myself. That was a huge insight.

I went to a group once, for depression/bipolar, and will never, ever, ever go back! I'm sure it's great fit for some people (as evidenced by those who posted!) but I felt terribly out of place and was very uncomfortable talking openly in front of so many people I didn't know. As I understand it though, it can be a great benefit to lots of people so I hope you'll be a able to find what fits for you the best.

I was in a DBT group for a little over a year.
I think my insurance covered most of it.

I hated group. I was 17/18 at the time and the group was for adolescents and parents because I was still in high school. But I was the oldest member in group (besides the parents, of course!), everyone else was around 13-15. They were incredibly immature and I felt like they always wanted to hog the attention of the group leaders. They formed cliques in group and I was always the one left out.

We never talked about anything heavy in group, it was more of a learning group. All of our trauma stuff was worked out with our individual therapist. All in all, the stuff they taught us in group was helpful. But the group itself. No. I hated it and I'm glad that I made it out alive.

That's an ambitious list. And it sounds like the facilitators are going to be very much "hands on".

My T says I do not connect to others on a emotional level.....not even my husband and he feels a group might result in me connecting with someone.

I think the group sounds like a good idea for you, Moxie. A lot depends on the expertise of the group or group leaders, and whether you feel comfortable in the group.

As far as insurance, you have to ask them what they will cover. I've been in DBT for a year and my insurance covered most of it. DBT is more of a skills group, like someone else posted, so we don't interact very much with the other group members, but we still connect. I've found it very worthwhile. In DBT, people come in and leave the group all the time because they can start at any time, and I find that unsettling. I don't know if other groups are like that or not.

Good luck!

There's a sexual abuse group I plan on joining at some point, run by a charity so I think it's free. It just lasts for a set amount of time. I'm scared I'll see someone there I know though.

I've been part of a gestalt group therapy for over 4 years, and it has been a grueling but rewarding experience. There are a lot of different dynamics that come in to play, and it's incredibly hard work.

My insurance caps all therapy at 30 sessions per year, so I pay for it out of pocket since I'd rather my insurance pay towards my individual sessions as they are much more expensive. Each insurance company handles it differently, though, so you'd have to check your policy.

Probably highly unlikely, but what if you did run into someone you know there? Couldn't that be a good thing, that someone you know has an understanding of what you are dealing with?

The group I was in was started by my pastor (who was also a licensed therapist). He saw so many wounded women in his own congregation and worked with another female therapist to put together our group. So yes, about half of the group (there were 8 of us total) were members of our congregation. The rest were clients of the other therapist. It was actually very healing to be able to share with and support each other in that setting.

Are you afraid someone would recognize you becuase of CSA? I can understand feeling that way. A lot of people do. If that's it, you might enjoy a book Miss America by Day: Lessons Learned from Ultimate Betrayals and Unconditional Love: Marilyn Van M. Derbur: 9780972829854: Amazon.com: Books.

Marilyn Van Derbur shares her courageous search for healing from incest.
In this long-awaited book, Marilyn, a former Miss America, tells the story of how she was sexually violated by her father from age five to age 18. She was 53 years old before she was able to speak the words in public: "I am an incest survivor."

Van Derbur describes in detail what specific "work" she did on her successful journey from victim to survivor. Using her story as the scaffolding, she shares knowledge and insights she has gained after talking personally with adult survivors in the 225 cities in which she has spoken.

She is very compassionate in her attitude toward incest survivors. I think it applies whether it was incest, or sexual abuse by a non-family member.

The one thing that stresses me about new people joining group is that they will be someone I know. So, I get it.

A friend of mine also wanted to specifically join the group I am in, and I told her that I wasn't comfortable with the idea of her being a part of my group. I don't want to mix group with my IRL relationships.

I can see that. I wouldn't want a friend in the same group either. In my case they were just acquaintances. I had seen them before in other church functions, but we didn't really have any kind of relationship prior to the group.

I see where you're coming from, but my answer is a resounding NO! It's not so unlikely. I'm in the UK, I grew up in this town, I know a lot of people, and my family and my husband's family are both here. It's the kind of place where people often know each other. Apparently they have occasionally had group members who know each other before.

While they have policies in place to deal with this, I don't want friends or acquaintances to find out unless I choose to tell them. I'm also afraid of running into people from school, where I was bullied a lot. Might be good to run into one of those people and have them see they made a bad time worse, but the idea of being in this kind of group with anyone I know makes me feel really anxious and exposed.

Sorry, I don't mean to seem like I'm attacking you. But I don't want or need anyone in my real life to know what I'm going through, the thought of them knowing just brings me out in emotional hives. I have one friend who knows - she's had similar experiences and has done a lot of her own therapy, and I've talked to her a bit about CSA. But I really don't want anyone else in my life to find out.

The thought of anyone knowing makes me feel sui, is the thing.

Thanks Syra, that's pretty much it. I did actually try to read that book, but gave up on it for reasons I can't remember right now. I think I'm at a stage where it's too triggering.

Didn't feel attacked at all. Not a worry. Group is going to be a bit anxiety making at first whatever the circumstances. Hopefully all will go smoothly for you on the anonymity front.

Good! Was worried I sounded too shirty. Sorry to take over the thread...

I haven't joined the group for this run but there'll be another in a few months so might go then.

That makes sense, although you don't need my understanding. I can see how the book might be triggering. I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. And being in a town with lots of connections makes it hard to take things at your own pace.

That sounds like it could be useful to many people. I like that it includes more than one approach. A couple of things to consider are how big the group is and who is the leader. I was in a group for a short time with 6 people and that seemed like a good number for that group. Some people go to a therapy group run by their individual T. I personally would not like that. Who will the leader of your group be?

I'm actually open to the idea of group therapy, even though I had bad experiences with it in my teens.

Back then, my T WAS the group leader too and I was so jealous. She and I had a bad relationship anyways. The group annoyed me because there were always 1 or 2 people who would monopolize the time and their dramas "sucked the air out of the room". I hated my T and grew to hate everyone in the group.

But as an adult, I think I could get something out of it as long as my T was not the leader.

I liked having my T as one of the leaders because it felt safe to be in that room as long as he was there. I knew HE knew if I was okay or not.

I wouldn't want to be in a group with my T. I don't think I could handle sharing his attention.

A concept of group therapy is that both monopolizers and non-monopolizers can grow if the group as a whole corrects the monopolizers. A good T facilitates that by making comments such as "I get the feeling that X is doing all of the work here. Why are other group members allowing this to happen?"

I hear ya, Tinyrabbit. My T is my group facilitator as well, and sometimes it's difficult to see him attending to others. There are advantages to it, though. He is able to witness how I interact with others and see certain things that I may not be aware of.