Growing Empathy for Men in Group Therapy

In an earlier article “Why Group Therapy for Men: 5 Benefits,” I wrote about how working with other men in a group context can be beneficial. The article raised some questions from readers: one reader said: “Ok, I’m interested but what are the mechanics of this?  How does that actually happen? Another asked “what is […]

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Practicing socializing in group therapy is a path to healing old wounds.

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 offers a unique opportunity to practice unfamiliar behaviors and get feedback on how it feels to […]

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Positive Outcomes of Group Therapy: Corrective Recapitulation

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 flaws in the family. Returning home for the holidays, adult kids slip back into old roles, […]

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Positive Outcomes of Group Therapy: Altruism

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 reach out to help those in need. Group therapy offers the members opportunities to provide assistance […]

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Positive Outcomes of Group Therapy: Universality

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 powerful sense of relief. That is, clients learn that they are universally similar to one another. […]

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Positive Outcomes of Group Therapy: Imparting Information

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 make it possible to stay in the present. Psychoeducational groups offer members the opportunity to reflect […]

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Positive Outcomes of Group Therapy: Instillation of Hope

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, that they do exist and that whatever happens, though I don’t know the reasons, happens for […]

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Three New Women’s Groups Beginning This Fall

The Imago Center’s Hayley Hoffman will be leading three new Women’s Groups beginning this fall. Women in The Second Chapter of Life [su_row] [su_column size=”1/4″] [/su_column] [su_column size=”3/4″] Women who identify as any or all of the following may be interested in a psychodynamic group therapy experience: 20-something to 40-something, curious about how you got […]

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Group Therapy: Is It the Next Right Thing for Me?

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 as well-informed fiction. Yalom the consummate group therapist, and Ephron is a compelling storyteller. Needless to […]

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How Walt Disney Ruined Our Love Lives

Here is a provocative 2014 article from Brandeis Magazine inviting us to look at how legendary stories and fairy tales that had once offered a realistic and cautionary view of love and marriage became whitewashed narratives that lead us to divorce. http://www.brandeis.edu/magazine/2014/summer/featured-stories/disney.html

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