“Do as I say not as I do.” Children mirror parents and peers, fans mimic favorite celebrities, and art imitates life. We know that people learn by watching others. Actions really do speak louder than words. 100’s of billions...
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Socializing is always a hot topic, today even more so. The way that our earliest caregivers communicate the outside world plays a significant role in our initial formation of how to listen, express empathy and navigate relationships. Group therapy...
The roles we play in our family are familiar and indelible. You know what role you assumed; your birth order may well have played a part in the familial roles you adopted. Roles serve to stabilize or defend against...
Tender touching is one way that we demonstrate affection towards another person. When you tenderly smooth back your partner’s hair, squeeze his shoulder as you join him on the sofa, massage her feet at the end of a workday,...
Fundamental to the human condition is the desire to help others when they are in trouble. People struggling with interpersonal relations, overwhelming life events, ongoing negative circumstances or self-concept tend to focus on their own difficulties and hesitate to...
Clients may enter group therapy with the preconceived idea that they are alone with their problems and that others do not share similar difficulties. While this is true to some extent, the disconfirmation of their uniqueness may be a...
The inevitable exchange of information in a group setting helps members get from one day to the next. Twelve Step groups focus on the “One Day At A Time” approach to facing personal hurdles. Group members share behaviors that...
Recently, I came across a piece by Kovie Biakolo entitled Why Hope Matters on one of my favorite inspirational sites, Thought Catalog. Kovie says, “…that is where hope comes in – believing that though I don’t know the answers,...
The Imago Center’s Hayley Hoffman will be leading three new Women’s Groups beginning this fall. Women in The Second Chapter of Life Women who identify as any or all of the following may...
My perception of group therapy is in part informed by two books: Irvin Yalom’s novel The Schopenhauer Cure and Norah Ephron’s Heartburn. Formal training is an essential foundation, and so is experience, but sometimes there is nothing as instructive...