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Introduction to Group Therapy
Ana Alonso
Albizu University
Group Dynamics
Professor Lezcano
Depression for Young Adults in Early Twenties
Group therapy is among the many psychotherapy treatments involving either one or many therapists attending to many individuals at once. It may be conducted in many ways, such as in hospitals, community centers, mental clinics, or in private sessions, among the many suitable locations (Straub, et al., 2017).
There is a need for group therapy for depression for individuals in their early 20s. Reasons include, first, there is the sense of not feeling alone. Members realize that they have experiences and are going through the same issues as they participate in the group sessions (Omylinska, et al., 2021). Therefore, they get support together with encouragement from other members of the group. The second is that some members may be looked at as role models by other group members. During the group therapy, some members may see others coping effectively, which gives them hope and strength to move on with their sessions (Beth, 2014). In due time, those that successfully graduate from it might end up assisting others to remain positive and successfully recover. As role models, they bring about a sense of accomplishment and success to the entire group (Klein, et al., 2018).
Third, it is affordable as opposed to single therapies. One therapist dedicates their time to a group of people to reduce the participants’ cost. Fourth, it is considered a haven by the group members. Since there is a guarantee for safety and confidentially within the group members, it becomes safer for the members to behave and act freely. Lastly, it is an effective way a therapist uses to evaluate how they are progressing through members’ responses to others and their behaviors in the social environment (Beth, 2014). It is a way a therapist uses to get first-hand information to present reliable and valued feedback by the respective clients.
The group being formed accepts members from the same cultural back group. It contains eight members whose aim is to remediate depression. The group therapy’s duration is twelve weeks with weekly sessions. Since this is a small group with a common problem, it is more effective to work around it. Reliable results to be produced in the shortest time possible (vander Spek, et al., 2014).
This group therapy is intended for young adults in their early twenties going through depression. Depression is considered a mental sickness that seriously saps someone’s energy reducing the victim’s quality of life (Klein, et al., 2018). Depression is a risk factor to getting other illnesses and complex negative changes in lifestyle such as drug and substance abuse, abandoning jobs, dropping out of school, and having negative relationships. Some may even go as far as committing suicide. For this group, it will only deal with risk factors as drugs and substance abuse (Straub, et al., 2017). These issues have destroyed the interpersonal relationships of the members and their day-to-day lives. Others have dropped out of college, suspended from work, while some do not relate well with their family members (Krishna, et al., 2011). They are looking forward to restoring interpersonal relationships with others even much better. It is why there is a need to ensure this group therapy is a success. Young adults in their early twenties are full of energy, ambitious, and hardworking. They do not have to through away their life that had just begun into depression. Through working on some specific regions, they will be able to regain themselves, even better, to live a healthier, strong, and ambitious life (vander Spek, et al., 2014).
The areas to be considered include the member’s self-esteem, which is what pushes youngest adults in their early twenties into depression. The group therapy will also consider copying skills. Members will understand themselves and adopt coping skills that they can manage on their own for a better life (Krishna, et al., 2011). Group therapy will also tackle an individual’s perception of the specific issues that led to depression. On realizing the root cause of the significant problem, it was much easier to come up with ways to help individual members recover from depression and or other illnesses or conditions that are present due to depression.
By the end of the therapy session, there are some goals expected to be achieved. The goal is to ensure that the interpersonal relationship of the members of the group is improved. It will enable the individuals to relate well with their family members, at work, working, and in school, for those studying (Omylinska, et al., 2021). Group therapy is an effective means to help these young adults in their early twenties live happier and healthy life in their day-to-day lives.
References
Beth, W. O. (2014). 6 Benefits of Group Therapy for Mental Health Treatment.
Klein, M. H., Greist, J. H., Gurman, A. S., Neimeyer, R. A., Lesser, D. P., Bushnell, N. J., & Smith, R. E. (2018). A comparative outcome study of group psychotherapy vs. exercise treatments for depression. International Journal of Mental Health.
Krishna, M., Jauhari, A., Lepping, P., Turner, J., Crossley, D., & Krishnamoorthy, A. (2011). Is group psychotherapy effective in older adults with depression? A systematic review. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 26(4), 331-340.
Straub, J., Metzger, C. D., Plener, P. L., Koelch, M. G., Groen, G., & Abler, B. (2017). Successful group psychotherapy of depression in adolescents alters fronto-limbic resting-state connectivity. Journal of affective disorders, 209, 135-139.
Omylinska‐Thurston, J., Karkou, V., Parsons, A., Nair, K., Dubrow‐Marshall, L., Starkey, J., … & Sharma, S. (2021). Arts for the Blues: The development of a new evidence‐based creative group psychotherapy for depression. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 21(3), 597-607.
vander Spek, N., Vos, J., van Uden-Kraan, C. F., Breitbart, W., Cuijpers, P., Knipscheer-Kuipers, K., … & Verdonck-de Leeuw, I. M. (2014). Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of meaning-centered group psychotherapy in cancer survivors: protocol of a randomized controlled trial. BMC psychiatry, 14(1), 1-8.
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