Group Therapy: Definition, Types + [Free Templates]


Group therapy is often used as an adjunct to individual therapy, as it can provide a safe space for people to share experiences and support one another. There are many different types of group therapy, each with its own goals and techniques. This article will discuss group therapy and its usefulness.

What is Group Therapy

Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy that involves two or more people meeting together to discuss their thoughts and feelings. It allows people to share experiences, problems, and solutions with others facing similar issues.

Group therapy can be helpful for a variety of mental health issues, including depression and anxiety disorders. It can also help people manage drug or alcohol addiction, eating disorders, and other addictive behaviors.

Read – Addictive Disorders: Types. Examples & Treatment

In group therapy sessions, each participant has the opportunity to share their experiences and feelings with others who have similar struggles. This can help them feel less isolated and ashamed about their problems, and it can also provide them with some new perspectives on what they’re going through.

Try for free: Psychic Test Survey Template

Group therapy sessions can be incredibly beneficial for people who have been struggling with mental health issues for a long time. It helps them connect with others who understand what they’re going through and it gives them a chance to learn how other people cope with similar situations.

Types of Group Therapy

There are several different types of group therapy:

1. Support groups

These groups are designed to provide emotional support for people who are facing similar problems. They typically have no therapist present, but instead, the members provide one another with encouragement and advice on how to deal with their issues.

2. Psychoeducational groups

These are designed for people with specific illnesses or disorders (like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder) who may benefit from learning more about their condition, how it affects them, and how they can manage it. Psychoeducational groups often have a more structured agenda than other types of group therapy sessions do because they tend to cover specific topics related directly to the patient’s illness rather than broader topics like interpersonal relationships or stress management strategies that can apply across multiple psychiatric conditions.

3. Interpersonal groups

These groups focus on improving communication between members. They often utilize role-playing and other exercises designed to help members gain better insight into themselves and others.

4. Skills development groups

These groups focus on helping members develop new skills. The skills could be anything from socializing more comfortably to managing stress. The goal is for each member to gain some new insight or ability that will help them tackle their problems in other areas of life.

5. Psychodrama

This type of group therapy uses role-playing to help members work through issues they’ve been struggling with within their lives. It’s based on the idea that playing out scenarios can help reveal underlying feelings and emotions—and therefore enable you to process them more effectively when you’re back in your daily life.

6. Family therapy

In this type of therapy, family members meet together with a therapist to discuss how their interactions affect one another’s behavior patterns and mental health status (the latter being something that affects both spouses). The goal is for everyone involved including children to better understand each other’s needs so that they can work together.

Use This: Psychological Assessment Form Template

Formplus Templates for Group Therapy

Formplus offers a wide range of different types of templates, including those for group therapy. This is an excellent way to get feedback from your patients on how well the treatment is working.

If you are looking for the right tool to help you create surveys, Formplus is the answer. It is easy to use and free. You can create your surveys using drag-and-drop technology or by typing in text boxes. You can even copy and paste sections of your survey into new ones if you need to reuse them later on down the road.

The most important part about this platform is that it allows its users to share their information with others who may need assistance as well; this includes both patients and doctors! If one person needs some extra help with something related specifically to their situation then it doesn’t mean that everyone else needs it too; therefore it makes sense for them not all to have access at once (unless they choose). 

In addition, there is no limit on how many surveys can be created per user account.

Formplus offers several templates for group therapy intake forms, including:

  • The teletherapy consent form: This is used by therapists to inform potential clients of what they will be doing in therapy, as well as any risks associated with that treatment method."teletherapy-form"
  • The therapist intake form. This document is used by clinicians to collect information from clients so they can see what their needs are, how they feel about them, and what they might want to accomplish during therapy.
  • The psychotherapy informed consent form. Therapists use this document to obtain consent from clients before beginning therapy with them. Therapists need to obtain informed consent because it allows clients to make an informed decision about whether or not they want to continue with treatment. There are two options: one for individual therapy and one for group therapy. Both templates give you everything you need to get started with collecting informed consent from clients about their experience with your services."psychotherapy-informed-form"
  • The hypnotherapy consultation form. This document is used by hypnotists when contacting potential clients about their services and making sure these individuals have all of the information necessary before starting treatment sessions together.”
  • The psychotherapy intake form is the first step in getting started with your therapy. It’s like a mini-survey that helps you identify what you’re looking for in a therapist and what they will provide.

Free for Use: Telepsychology Survey Template

Stages of Group Therapy

  • Forming

The first stage of group therapy is called “forming” because it’s about forming a bond, or the group coming together. This is the most important part of the process if this doesn’t go well, you won’t get anywhere. The therapist will work with everyone to get them to open up and express themselves honestly. The therapist might ask questions like “What do you think has brought you here?” or “What are your goals for this group?”

  • Storming

After forming comes storming. Which is the stage where people may disagree with each other, argue with each other, or even fight! But the most important thing is that everyone can talk about their problems without getting too upset or angry with each other or the therapist. Everyone should feel safe saying what they think and feeling how they feel without being judged by anyone else in the group.

  • Norming

Once people start to feel safe expressing themselves honestly, they’ll start working together as a team toward common goals (like getting better). At this point, there might be some disagreements here and there, but everything should be resolved peacefully so that everyone can move forward together toward their shared goal which is being better than before

  • Performing

During this stage members start working together on solutions for their problems. They implement their solutions from earlier in the session(s). The goal here is for them all to feel like they’ve made progress on their goals for change at the end of each session (and hopefully beyond).

For Therapy Sessions: Schizoid Personality Disorder Test

Techniques of Group Therapy

There are several different types of group therapy techniques, including:

  1. Open Discussion: This method allows people to talk freely about whatever they want in the group and encourages them to share their feelings.
  2. Interactive Model: This model encourages people to participate in group discussions and ask questions about topics that interest them.
  3. Confrontational Model: In this type of therapy session, members are asked to confront each other about certain issues that are causing conflict within the group itself or between each other (such as blame). This can help with resolving conflicts among members so they can move forward together more peacefully after making amends for past mistakes.

For Therapy Sessions: Histrionic Personality Disorder Quiz

8 Group Therapy Ideas, Activities, and Games

  1. Passing around the ball. This is an easy and quick game that can be played with a larger group of students or even in the classroom. All you need is a ball and a circle of chairs, each student takes turns passing the ball around the circle while saying something they like about themselves or another student. The person who receives the ball then says something they like about themselves or another student before passing it on again. If there are more than 10 people, you can split them into two groups and rotate between them as needed.
  2. Wall of emotions. Give each student a piece of paper and have them write down their feelings on it by drawing an emotion icon (there are lots online). Students then stick their pieces onto a wall for everyone else to see at the end of class or during lunchtime if possible!
  3. Feeling emojis. Students pick an emoji from their phone’s emoji library and give reasons why they chose it over others (e.g., this one makes me feel happy).
  4. Guess who? This activity is great for getting to know each other better and building trust in your group. You’ll need some photos or pictures of everyone in the group. Each person will take turns being a “mystery person” while everyone else tries to guess who it is based on their description of the person’s characteristics (e.g., “She’s very outgoing”).
  5. Remote island: This game is great for building trust and communication between people who don’t know each other well or aren’t comfortable speaking up in front of others yet. It can also be used as a way to practice expressing feelings and needs verbally rather than through actions or behaviors (e.g., hitting someone).
  6. Musical feelings: This game helps children learn how to express their emotions using music instead of hitting or screaming when they’re mad or upset at something another child does or says (which can lead to aggression against them). You’ll need a variety of different instruments available so that kids can choose whatever sounds best for them (e.g., drums, guitar), as well as some songs that have lyrics about different emotions like anger (“Let it Go”).
  7. A “fishbowl” where someone is chosen as the focus of discussion to bring up topics that may otherwise be difficult for others to address.
  8. Open discussions where everyone talks about their experiences and how they’ve been feeling lately.

For Therapy Sessions: Dissociative Identity Disorder Test

Benefits of Group Therapy

Group therapy can offer several benefits, including:

  1. Reducing the stigma associated with mental health issues
  2. Encouraging patients to explore new ways of thinking about themselves and others
  3. Helping patients learn from other members’ experiences
  4. Group therapy is used to treat a variety of conditions, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and substance abuse.

Problems & Conditions that Can be Solved by Group Therapy

Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which a group of people meets together to discuss their problems and concerns. Group therapists believe that by sharing their issues with others who are facing similar struggles, they can learn how to deal with their issues more effectively.

It can be used to treat many different kinds of mental health issues. Some common groups include:

  1. Depression
  2. Substance abuse disorders
  3. Anxiety disorders (including OCD)
  4. Alcohol & other addictions
  5. Sexual dysfunction
  6. Post-traumatic stress disorder
  7. Eating disorders

For Therapy Sessions: Narcissistic Personality Disorder Test

Drawbacks and Limitations of Group Therapy

Some drawbacks of group therapy include:

  1. It can be hard for some people to open up about their feelings in front of strangers.
  2. A limited number of sessions per week (once a week or twice).
  3. It’s hard to keep track of progress when there are so many people involved.
  4. There may not be enough therapists to meet the demand for individualized care and there may be some potential for collusion among members.

How Do You Measure the Success of Group Therapy?

The success of group therapy depends on the type of group that is being used. For example, if you are using a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) group to treat depression, you may want to measure the success of your program by asking participants about their moods before and after each session, or even throughout treatment.

You may also want to ask participants about their thoughts on how helpful their participation has been in improving their mental health condition(s).

There are many different ways that you can measure the success of your program using pre/post surveys for both individual participants as well as for the entire group.

Pre- and post-surveys are one way to do this. Surveying clients before they start and after they finish helps you see if their symptoms changed in any way, or if they feel like their lives have improved overall.

This can be useful for proving the efficacy of your program to funders or insurers, but it’s also valuable for helping you assess how well you’ve done your job as a therapist.

Other ways to measure the success of group therapy include looking at how much time passes between sessions (to see if clients are following through) and evaluating whether or not they continue attending groups after they leave your clinic. The first survey should be administered before the first session, and the second survey should be given at a later date (for example, after six weeks).

Conclusion

Group therapy is a form of therapy in which the client interacts with other people who have similar issues. This gives you an idea of whether or not your treatment is working as expected.

Group therapy can be an effective way to treat clients with similar issues, as well as those who may not need individual therapy but do benefit from being in a group setting.