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The Benefits of Group Therapy

Research has shown that there is no appreciable difference between the benefits of individual vs group therapy.  However, I'm sold on group therapy, especially for the population I work with - sex offenders.

It used to be said - maybe it still is - that the benefits of group therapy for a person adjudicated for a sex offense are the following:

• It helps them overcome their denial
• It helps them work through their shame
• It helps them learn social skills

There may be more benefits that are mentioned but these are the ones I remember.

But groups offer many more than the commonly mentioned benefts listed above.  Perhaps an example will help.

Kyle entered a sex offender group at the insistence of his probation officer.  He had spent almost half of his 55 years incacerated for a variety of crimes, many of them violent.  Approximately 20 years ago he had committed and been found guilty of two rapes, the reason he was referred.

A heavy drug user Kyle attempted to turn the group into an NA meeting.  He was extremely vocal about the need of other group members with drug problems to get into NA or "you'll pick up and be back in prison." He refused to talk about the rapes he had committed. His angry tone and bullying tactics were off putting for the group. But the group pushed back and when it did he would fold his arms and state he wasn't going to talk anymore.  The group called him on this - "you want to pick up your ball and go home" - which he denied was the case.

He made an attempt to leave the group, fabricating a filmsy excuse.  Both the group leader and his probation officer refused to allow this.

One of the things the group confronted him with was his language.  He strenously objected, saying that he grew up speaking this way and, besides, people didn't mind it.  Who did the group think it was, telling him to change!  The group responded by saying they were not out to change him but rather would appreciate his considering that his language might offend others.

Slowly Kyle began to "settle in" the group.  It was noticed that his offensive language was being used less and less.  He identified with a group member who was from the same neighborhood he grew up in and, like him, had been in prison.  This group member was direct with him and he appeared to hear what he said, which was quite different from his interactions with other group members.  It was also noticed that Kyle was beginnning to make a series of self-disclosures - "anger is a problem for me," "I have to stop judging people like I do."

He even acknowledged that he hid behind his angry front.

The acknowledged leader in understanding how groups function is Irving Yalom, M.D., who has written extensively on the subject.  (He also wrote one of the first, if not the first, article on group therapy with sex offenders in 1966.) Yalom mentions several "therapeutic factors" that groups offer and Kyle has benefited from them. Specifically Kyle has seen group members grow and change, which offers him hope that he can too; he has learned from observing other group members - imitative behavior and interpersonal learning; he has come to see that he is basically no different from others - the principle of universality and his behavior is slowly being modified - the development of socializing techniques.

As I noted at the beginning - individual and group therapy benefits are pretty equal.  But from where I sit as a group facilitator it's exciting to see people grow and change and how a group makes this happen.  I'll take group therapy every time.

 

Photo Credit: yony_ro