Has anyone had group therapy?

[Flihgtattendant]

I've been offered a place a while back for group psychotherapy.
I have trouble with depression and so on, don't take anti depressants, don't want to - I wanted some CBT or individual therapy (had it before - it was good, but only lasted 6 months, NHS resources and all that)

They have just offered a place in a group this time, which can be for up to 3 years.

I'm meant to start in January, but I don't want to do it - scared of groups, avoid social situations, frankly it would be like stepping into hell for me.

I know this is meant to be a good thing and would make me confront all that but tbh I think I'd rather stick pins in my eyes - I deal Ok with the scariness of one to one, but not a group. Maybe I am just not ready.

Has anyone else felt this way and taken the dive? I have written a letter saying I can't go - but it might be my only option if I want any therapy at all.

tIA...

No, but I've thought about it for many years.
When I ask what is normal, I think there is no such thing, as human beings we're far too complex and special to be given such a title!
I don't know if the group thing is right for you, I guess we need different things at different times in our lives...
Maybe it could be the best thing you ever do, or the worst -probably a bit of both!

Thanks...sorry, hope I didn't sound rude or funny.

Yes, it could be great or it could be terrible.
At the moment I need someone to remove the thought of it from my brain, take me there in january, shove me into the room and say 'oh hello

get on with it then'

but that's not likely really is it

I have food for thought

thankyou all

I don't like group things either, I did go to a group for families of alcoholics a few years back and surprisingly found it very enlightening. I recognised people who I thought were 'normal' - like the rest of us if you look closely enough we are all struggling in one way or another. It made me see all of humanity in that little room.

I can remember getting the best advice, not from the counsellor but from the other members.

One lady said the words 'she was doing her best' which I found very useful in helping forgive - that is that everyone is doing the best with the tools they have to hand at the time.

That sounds most encouraging actually

i have a them and us approach at present,

maybe i need to see it differently..

You mentioned CBT, I'm hoping one day to train in mindfulness based cognitive therapy It has its roots in buddhism but without all the hippy woohoo.

It relates to mindfulness in everyday life, just trying to be present and watchful of your thoughts, feelings, sensations during your breathing.

The following quote explains it better:

'The thought manifests as the word
the word manifests as the deed
the deed develops into habit
and habit hardens into character
so watch the thought and its ways with care
and let it spring from love
born out of concern for all beings"
(buddha)

I had group therapy just like you have been offered.

yes it was VERY hard but the reason why I (you?) was offered is because of the problems I had forming relationships, I was from a dysfunctional family and didn't know how to let friends support me.

The therapist(s) subconsciously represent your parents and you project onto them your experiences of parents. It was so very very very helpful. I learnt to talk to other people, confront my deepest fears and discover that other people thought i was ok and not the things I had been brought up to believe I was.

Our group last 2.5 years and 5 years after it ended we still meet up a couple of times a year socially.

I later went on to have individual therapy where we explored a few things the group "colluded" to avoid - mainly pregnancy/becoming a parent - I had 2 pregnancies during my group therapy and only missed 2 sessions - once when I was giving birth & once when I had a very very nasty D&V bug.

I changed a lot during it and it was hard but I have no regrets.

All the people in the group had difficulties forming relationships with people and of course depression, we went on a journey together IYSWIM.

All the people in the group had difficulties forming relationships with people and of course depression, we went on a journey together IYSWIM.

I have done group therapy. I was dreading it but it was never as bad as I anticipated. It didn't feel much like therapy. There was anywhere from 3 - 6 of us and I was the only new person when I joined. People came and went all the time though and there were rules about not socialising outside of the group so it didn't feel like everyone was good friends.

we didn't socialise until afterwards and there are only 6 of us out of 9 who still keep in touch, plus apart from 1 we were there from begining to end for 2.5 years - I'm not sure that is typical but it did mean that we got more "done".

It's good to see that people have benefited from group therapy. I've done it twice and the second time people kept leaving the group and the new people had increasingly serious problems. I was accosted by someone from the group in the pub, which was horrible and quite frightening. I haven't found the group thing very helpful at all. Saying that, it's worth a go, as it's more likely to be helpful than detrimental and you won't know till you've tried.

Oh Gosh. I am really unsure now. Half of me thinks it could be like Sleighgirl's experience and be a very good thing, the other is terrified it'll be like bladebla's and a total disaster.

I'm not very good at this am I.

Thankyou very much for sharing though, all of you. I feel a bit less alone than I did.

Just finishing group therapy, been attending group for 18 months and now ready to go it alone.
Hope this won't be too boring, but it might help to hear what happened to me.
When I started I was very negative about the whole thing. What possible benefit could there be from talking to people who couldn't fix themselves let alone fix me? I felt very sorry for the therapist - I thought he must spend his life listening to people who never get better.
I went into the group sessions believing I was different from everyone else. I didn't have the same rights as everyone else, no one would listen to me, I was a nothing and I could not contribute the same as other people. I was so close to the edge. I knew I wouldn't be saying much because I didn't want to risk rejection.

It was a very gradual process. The breakthrough for me came from listening to other people. It's hard to put into a few words but what finally happened to me was that I saw why I feel the way I do about myself.
Being a nothing, being worthless, being different to everyone else, these feelings were all about things that had happened to me when I was growing up. They weren't the universal truths I had believed them to be, they were just the way I had been made to feel by things that had happened to me in my life. I know, fucking obvious now but when its been instilled in you from birth you can't see it because you are living it.

I had a breakthrough moment while listening to someone else talk about things that had happened to them as a child. I was so angry on their behalf that anyone could have treated a child that way. I didn't say much at group to begin with but this week I was so angry that I actually spoke directly to another member. I told her that she sounded like a great kid and I had such admiration for her and she deserved more from her parent. Someone said to me if you can see that to be true for her, can't you see that it's also true for you?
And bugger me, I finally did.

Cat it's so amazing isn't it. I had so many lightbulb moments it was bizarre. Like someone (all of them actually) going "yes they way your parents treated you was unkind & hurtful", "yes you are a kind thoughful person, not this complete selfishness that you've been told you are" etc etc etc

Flight go for it, if nothing else it's a weekly outing without dc

I tried but couldn't cope. Was sobbing in the toilet in the break. Didn't go back but they obviously wouldn't offer me anything else so am funding my own individual therapy.