Group Therapy

Helpful Group Therapy Brentwood

Group therapy provides the opportunity for individuals to

  • realize there are others who share similar struggles and understand what you are going through
  • practice the very relational issues you struggle with in everyday life with others seeking to address their own struggles and issues
  • give and receive real time, honest and direct feedback that increases your emotional capacity for intimacy with others in the group and in meaningful relationships outside of group (family, friends, and work)
  • become more assertive
  • experience authentic relationship in the context of confidentiality and caring
  • work on establishing and maintaining boundaries
  • develop empathy
  • unravel and address spoken and unspoken relational family ‘rules of engagement’ that influence how you relate to others

Through group therapy, many clients develop new tools and skills that help to improve their relationships and overall well-being.

Although many people find group therapy beneficial, it does require work on the part of the client. There are no guarantees that a client’s mental health will improve, and there are potential risks. The therapeutic process many stir up difficult emotions in the client such as anger, sadness, fear, and hurt. Clients sometimes report feeling worse before they feel better. As the client begins to change, there is also a risk that current relationships may change as well.

As a client, you have the right to decide what you are willing to discuss and what forms of treatment you feel comfortable participating in. Please feel free at any time to ask questions about your course of therapy or methods of treatment used.  Both facilitators believe a principle of good therapy includes the client’s willingness to openly distrust and question the process. You have the right to end therapy at any time for any reason with no obligations other than to pay for the services as agreed.

Financial Information

The fee for a 90-minute group session is $75-125. Clients are expected to keep a credit card on file and will be charged the day following each session. As a committed member of the group, the policy is that payment is required for each group session regardless of attendance.

Group Guidelines

  1. Keep confidentiality. Let the group know if you break it. Ask questions about confidentiality if you aren’t sure.
  2. Arrive on time. Leave when group is finished.
  3. Refrain from chewing anything in group & from using electronic devices.
  4. Use words, not actions, to express your thoughts and feelings
  5. Use the feelings anger, fear, shame, hurt, sad, lonely, guilt, and glad to communicate in group
  6. Don’t communicate with group members outside of group time. Let the group know if you do.
  7. Pay for each group session that occurs while you are a member of the group
  8. End well. Process your decision to end in the group, once you decide to end your time in group allow for a final session for closure.

We welcome open communication and your honest feedback about your group therapy experience. We encourage you to bring up concerns as a confrontation during the group therapy sessions. If something is not working for you and is causing you to want to end your time in group, please reach out to one of the facilitators to discuss your concerns.

Confidentiality

Professional ethics and Tennessee law indicate that confidential information is controlled by the client. This means that, as a general rule, information shared in sessions with a therapist will be held in confidence and will not be revealed to any person outside of the group or to any outside agency without your permission. An inherent risk with group psychotherapy is the confidentiality of information disclosed, as all group members verbally agree to hold information disclosed as confidential but law and ethics do not bind this agreement.

There are a few exceptions to confidentiality in which, as a Licensed Professional Counselor, the facilitators are required by law to reveal information obtained during any form of therapy to other persons or agencies. Confidentiality may be broken in the following situations: (1) the facilitators have reason to believe you intend to harm yourself or someone else (2) you disclose abuse or neglect of a child, elderly, or disabled person.

If you choose to use an insurance company for a portion of your payment, it is important to know the insurance company usually requires diagnostic/treatment codes and reports regarding the content of sessions. The facilitator has no control as to what the insurance company chooses to do with this information after the report has been submitted. In order to provide you with the best services possible, there may be times when the group facilitators need to consult with other colleagues or professionals regarding issues discussed in therapy. Your anonymity will still be protected during these times of consultation.