Verbally attacked in group

I wonder why even be in group therapy? It is not required is it? It sounds like additional stress. I would avoid it if I could. Certainly avoid this group, that's for sure

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SP - I find the group T's handling of this whole thing appalling. He clearly lacks the skills to work in DBT (my honest opinion). I've been through two full fledged DBT groups. When we had issues within the group they were handled incredibly well by the facilitators. I had a guy in one group who acted aggressively towards me and I started to feel unsafe. When I brought it up to the facilitators, he was dealt with behind the scenes and his behavior changed. When we had another person in the group derailing, it was clear our group wasn't where she needed to be. Nothing was done publicly, it was all handled out of our perception and the facilitators took on making sure the group was a safe space for everyone involved.

Your group T did not do this.

That being said, *because* he is incredibly unskilled, I caution against going back. I don't trust a T that can't deal with conflict in an appropriate way. I especially don't trust a T who can't effectively deal with a group of people all dealing with mental illnesses with varying symptoms.

Sometimes we can't get closure or get things resolved. This might be one of those situations. I wish you could get into one of the real DBT groups Do you think your current T could advocate on your behalf to your insurance? Just brainstorming.

It's not an issue of insurance. Only the hospital's DBT group accepts insurance. The other real DBT groups don't accept insurance.

The other problem is that they require an individual T for 24/7 counseling thingy. My current T won't agree to that. And I don't want to give her up yet. I'm not ready yet.

Another update:

My individual T called me. Group T's boss called her and left her a msg. Boss told my T that I wanted to take over the group? And that they were going to cancel group anyways due to attendance.

My T agrees with me: this is all stupid. She said I didn't do anything wrong...not even going to his boss. She said they are handling it poorly and is going to call the boss to try to figure out what happened. My T said that if they were going to close the group anyways, and since they are a process group, why wouldn't they give me 5-15mins to try to resolve a conflict which is what DBT is used for in the first place. She told me she doesn't understand, but reassured me I did everything right.

About seeing the clients one last time... my T said it's okay if I want to say goodbye. But she did tell me it would be best to not tell the members why I'll no longer be in group because it will be seen as me causing drama.

That's frustrating that she won't let you see a DBT T on the side. She sounds like a good T and I can understand not wanting to give her up. Is there a way to negotiate it somehow? My T is a DBT T and when I first started seeing him, it was all very cool if I wanted to see someone else (realistically I couldn't, not with the time constraints and money). I'm actually one of his few long term clients (seven years). He generally only sees clients for a year during the time they're in group and for them he's very strictly skills support in a lot of ways. Meeting one on one let's them work on an individual's needs without taking up group time or opening group up to triggering conversation (does that make sense?).

It's actually fairly normal for a DBT group to have you with a DBT T at the same time, but it's considered a short term thing. I just didn't know why your T wouldn't allow that if she also thought you needed DBT.

I hope thinks worked out as you wished this past week.