Group Therapy
Teen Girls Group starting! Click here for more info.
The Leadership Club for 5th & 6th Grade Girls is starting in October! Click here for more info.
The Leadership Club for 5th & 6th Grade Girls is starting in October! Click here for more info.
Group therapy with children/adolescents usually involves 2 - 6
members of the same age and the psychologist. Usually a group will
have a theme and members are selected based on the need to improve
some aspect of that particular theme, such as relationship skills,
emotion management, self-esteem, etc.
Dr. Hartman uses a
combination of Play Therapy (depending on age) and
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in the group sessions. Sessions
typically involve structured exercises as well as free play with
the psychologist's therapeutic assistance.
Group therapy is
different from individual therapy in a number of ways, with the
most obvious difference being the number of people in the room with
the psychologist. Originally, group therapy was used as a
cost-saving measure, in institutional settings where many people
needed psychological treatment and there were too few psychologists
to provide the treatment. However, in conducting research on the
effectiveness of these therapy groups, psychologists discovered
that the group experience benefited people in many ways that were
not always addressed in individual psychotherapy. Likewise, it was
also discovered that some people did not benefit from group
therapy.
In group therapy,
children/adolescents learn that they are not alone in experiencing
psychological adjustment problems. They can experiment with trying
to relate to others differently in a safe environment with a
psychologist present to assist as needed. Additionally, group
therapy allows youth to learn from the experiences of others with
similar problems. It also allows them to better understand
different views and ways to interact.
Group members are
told not to discuss information shared in the group with others.
Usually the need for mutual confidentiality preserves the privacy
of the information.
Please contact Dr. Hartman for
additional inquiries about my group therapy services.
