Therapy in LA

Febuary 2011

INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY PLUS GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY: A GOOD IDEA?

In a personal communication to the members of the Los Angeles County Psychological Association listserve( March, 2009), Dr.Karen Shore offered these insights:

"Individual plus group psychotherapy is a very powerful combination. Each enhances the other.

Group gives the opportunity to notice oneself in action and to hear how others see you, and how you impact others in a very real way. Individual allows the opportunity to process this further, work on it further, go deeper into feelings and reactions. Also, group allows the person to be able to test out what is explored in individual, to have a place to try out different ways of acting and reacting that are pondered in individual therapy.

It is ideal if the individual therapist and the group therapist are the same person, but it also works quite well if they are different people, as long as the two therapists are in some contact and are working together, and trust each other's views.

It is also helpful if the individual therapist can help the group therapist by discussing the particular areas of difficulty the client reports or that the therapist notices.

So - it is very important for the group and individual therapist to have a rapport, hopefully coming from a similar orientation, and develop trust - and for both to understand individual therapy as well as group dynamics and group therapy .Mutual respect for each other and for their client is of course crucial to a positive outcome."

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