GROUP ANALYSIS & GROUP THERAPY
Group therapy may not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering therapy. The idea of speaking openly in front of others can feel daunting, particularly when what brings us to therapy may already involve difficulties with trust, intimacy, belonging or being seen.
Yet it is precisely the presence of other people that can make group therapy such a powerful form of psychological work.
I have worked with therapeutic groups for more than ten years, in both NHS and university settings and in independent practice. I completed a Diploma in Group Work Practice at the Institute of Group Analysis in 2018 and am currently undertaking the qualifying stage of Group Analyst training with Group Analysis North in Manchester, a UKCP-accredited programme.
You do not need to have experienced individual therapy before joining a group, although for some people group therapy becomes a natural next stage after individual work.
CURRENT GROUPS
English-speaking psychotherapy group — Málaga
An ongoing, in-person therapy group meeting in Málaga city on Wednesdays from 6.30–8.00pm.
The group is conducted in English and brings together people who want to understand themselves and their relationships more deeply through the experience of being with others.
LGBTQ+ online group
An online group for LGBTQ+ participants is currently in development.
If you are interested in either group, you are welcome to contact me to arrange an initial conversation about whether group therapy might be right for you.
WHY GROUPS?
As human beings, we are born into groups.
Families, friendships, communities, schools, workplaces and cultures all shape who we become. We carry these experiences with us, often without being fully aware of how profoundly they influence the ways we relate to ourselves and to other people.
Most of us share a desire to belong and to feel accepted and understood. At the same time, we want to be recognised as individuals — to have our difference, independence and particularity acknowledged.
The tension between belonging and individuality is present throughout our lives.
A therapy group creates an unusual space in which these dynamics can be experienced and thought about as they happen.
HOW GROUP THERAPY WORKS
In individual psychotherapy, we often talk about relationships that exist elsewhere in our lives. In a group, relationships are also happening in the room.
Patterns around intimacy, trust, conflict, competition, vulnerability, withdrawal, visibility and belonging can gradually emerge between members of the group. This gives us an opportunity not simply to talk about how we relate, but to experience and understand those patterns as they unfold.
Other people may see something in us that we cannot yet see ourselves. We may recognise parts of ourselves in someone whose life appears completely different from our own. At times we may feel understood; at others misunderstood, frustrated, moved, envious, protective, challenged or unexpectedly connected.
All of these experiences can become part of the work. Over time, the group develops its own history and culture. What one person brings can resonate with another, sometimes in ways neither expected. Changes in one member can affect the whole group. This interconnectedness is at the heart of group analysis.
A SPACE TO BE SEEN — AND TO SEE OTHERS
There is, in a sense, less opportunity to hide than in individual therapy. But this does not mean people are expected to disclose everything immediately or pressured to speak before they are ready. Trust develops gradually.
As the group becomes established, it can offer something increasingly rare in everyday life: a sustained space in which people can encounter one another with curiosity and honesty, notice how they affect and are affected by others, and experiment with different ways of being in relationship.
The therapist is part of this process but is not its only source of insight. Members gradually become important to one another, and the group itself becomes therapeutic.
This can make group therapy particularly powerful for difficulties involving relationships, loneliness, shame, identity, self-esteem and belonging — but you do not need to arrive with a particular problem or diagnosis.
Sometimes the most important thing a group offers is the experience of discovering that something we believed belonged only to us can be recognised and understood by others.