One of the most difficult questions to answer is:
Why, at certain times, might group therapy be a better fit for me than individual therapy?
It is not a simple answer if you have never experienced a therapy group.
We know that group therapy helps through several well-established therapeutic factors: universality (realizing we are not alone in our struggles), the healing power of communication, and the new emotional experiences that emerge within the group.
But there is another aspect that is less well known and, in my view, particularly valuable.
In a group we don't just talk about our relationships-we live them. And because we experience them in real time, we can begin to understand them and transform them.
Without realizing it, we tend to relate to others in the same ways we do outside the group. We repeat our familiar relational patterns: how we approach or distance ourselves from others, how we protect ourselves, how we ask for help, and how we respond to closeness.
This makes the group a unique space for understanding what lies beneath these patterns. With the support of the therapist and the other group members, we can recognize them, understand where they come from, and begin to develop healthier ways of relating.
The process often looks something like this:
- I relate to others in the way I usually do.
- Through the group's experience and the feedback I receive, I become aware of how my way of relating affects both others and myself.
- I begin to recognize that I play an active role in creating my relationships.
- I start experimenting with new ways of relating and discover that I can bring these changes into my everyday life.
In September I will be starting an in-person therapy group in English, in the center of Barcelona, for people who want to better understand their relational patterns and create meaningful, lasting changes in their lives and relationships.
If, while reading this, someone came to mind who might benefit from this experience, I would be grateful if you shared this post with them
