Online group psychotherapy and its settings: advantages and characteristics

20 Feb

The online group psychotherapy, like the individual one, represents the natural and inevitable evolution of what was traditionally carried out in the studio. The setting has been reorganized and moved online, allowing psychologists and psychotherapists to keep the door to their new virtual room open at all times, welcoming their patients at any time.

Many goals achieved in the management of group sessions for the online therapy, but the path is constantly evolving.

In PsyCare, the management of the online group therapy sessions meets safety requirements, responding to the needs of therapists and patients. In a dedicated group setting, which takes into account specific characteristics, the therapist can manage up to 20 participants, monitor their attitudes and status, and can engage in co-therapy and invite external guests. The result of a scientific collaboration with the Department of Psychology at the University of Turin, this online group therapy is an exclusive innovation of PsyCare.

What is group psychotherapy?

The group psychotherapy can be defined as a type of dynamic therapy which arises around a common goal or difficulty of the group, and which pursues the goal of listening and mutual help.

What distinguishes it from individual therapy are, as already mentioned, the experiential dynamics that stimulate paths of evolution and support, while at the same time facilitating bonds between the various patients.

The group psychotherapy, understood in a broad sense, was born at the beginning of the 20th century, and today it is undoubtedly an effective form of psychotherapy. It focuses on dynamics that are activated within a group of people and is considered a valid therapeutic tool, capable of emancipating people’s expressiveness.

The different methodologies for applying this type of approach are all based on the benefits that the relational fabric that is created between the patients of the group During a session, it contributes to the individual. It ranges from the “analytical” model to the “cognitive-behavioral” one, passing through the “gestalt” approach and arriving at the “dynamic” one. But all philosophies share essential constitutive elements for the success of the group therapy.

Group psychotherapy originally arose with the aim of meeting patients’ financial needs. Subsequently, and relatively quickly, it was observed that groups manifested their own therapeutic characteristics. Groups foster the development of relationships, the formation of identifying bonds, the creation of a shared culture, and powerful transformative mechanisms. Hence their ongoing evolution and reevaluation in the psychotherapeutic context.

Today, the pillars of group psychotherapy which are the basis of the interactions that will take place during the various sessions, can be identified in three main components:

reciprocity
exchangeability
comparison

The therapeutic and healing results are precisely related to this particular and characteristic structure. The group, in fact, can be identified both as a “single identity,” which supports and facilitates all processes of change, and as a “complex of distinct individualities.”

Online group psychotherapy: how it works

The group sessions for online therapy They are a form of psychotherapy in which the clinical intervention is carried out in a group setting evolved, revisited and re-evaluated, which simply reorganizes itself around the needs of the protagonists. customization of online settings it also becomes a characterizing constitutive element in online group therapy.

The new online group setting, in some contexts, is highly inclusive and allows for moments to occur that would not be as easy in person.

The dense and complex network of interactions that is built in a context of group what does he do online psychotherapy, can truly be managed remotely; in some cases, even while forgoing physical presence, it retains the ability to reduce the “complexity” component, without undermining the important aspects of variety and richness of the experience.

The online group psychotherapy, then, like that which is carried out in the studio, can refer to various types of theoretical orientations (dynamic, cognitive, etc.), and can be articulated in its various models in an extremely diversified manner, from a supportive pole to an expressive-elaborative pole.

Usually, the online group therapy It consists of “verbal” therapy (talking groups), but is sometimes constituted or integrated with other therapeutic modalities, such as forms of expressive therapy (usually of the art therapy type), expressive body practices or moments of group meditation.

When we move psychotherapy online, it is appropriate to take into due consideration the new and variable constitutive and characteristic aspects (Weinberger, 2020):

loss of control over the setting
the disembodied environment
the problem of presence
ignore the context

Without forgetting that at the basis of good how the online group works and there are rules for the one in person, which allow everyone to respect the freedom of others.

The online group setting

The displacement of the online group setting it was as inevitable as it was predictable, and the benefits found are now consolidated and shared by many of the figures involved.

The setting for the online group psychotherapy should be understood as a natural evolution of the traditional therapeutic setting; today it is a consolidated reality and can be identified as the new door to the study. The epochal change that psychologists and the psychotherapists have addressed has erased decades of skepticism about the effectiveness of telepsychology.

Clinical intervention, in online group therapy, is realized in the so-called “group setting” online. It is necessary and appropriate, in this case, to identify and recognize the evident differences in context (online vs. studio) that deserve specific attention to allow an adequate definition of the necessary rules that should be followed.. Generally speaking, the same elements that characterize the online therapeutic setting for individual sessions should be taken into consideration, first of all.

Then, since the meeting doesn’t take place in a shared physical location, but on a virtual platform, and since people will experience the shared meeting in their own private spaces, it’s important to point out that these spaces should guarantee privacy (both for themselves and for other group members). To make the relational dynamic more fluid and natural, it can also be useful to ask the participants online group participants to always keep the microphone and camera active, which, if turned off, could prevent normal non-verbal feedback, and could also favor the onset of projective experiences that are difficult to manage for some people.

Online group setting: characteristic advantages

A psychotherapy session is more effective and valuable the more it facilitates individual and group growth and change, in the shortest time possible but with lasting and stable effects.

Starting from this assumption, the online group psychotherapy offers multiple advantages and valid potential. Let’s look at them in more detail:

allows, first of all, a greater stability and consistency of appointments, precisely because it can be done from any location and breaks down physical barriers;
allows for more easy organization, especially in the case of large groups when it is difficult to find a “where-when” that is convenient for everyone;
guarantees a time savings: allows you to be in the office “online” without wasting time, which both the therapist and the patients can dedicate to other activities;
facilitates participation in group sessions: there will be no need to consider travel to the studio, with the consequent delays, waits and unforeseen events;
offers the possibility of interact safely from a distance: For some people, the pandemic can cause anxiety. By leveraging dedicated software, a virtual therapy room can be managed, where group members can meet and interact remotely and safely.
protects privacy and offers the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds, leading to better interaction, in the group and with the therapist.

Online group therapy vs. online individual therapy

Even in comparison with online individual psychotherapy, the online group therapy (in contexts where it is possible) presents some additional characteristic advantages:

allows participants to compare points of view, experiences, realities and mentalities that are very different from their own;
activates faster transformation processes: each individual in the group acts as a “mirror” for the others and becomes a “therapeutic resource” in support of the therapist’s work, who is always present;
a group works like a “family”: if there is interaction, empathy, if it works well, good relationships develop between the members in a healthy and nourishing intimacy, and it allows them to analyze and address problems together;
the exclusivity of the relationship is compensated for: even if the therapist’s attention (unlike in individual therapy) will not be concentrated entirely on a single member of the group, the whole group will support each member, as it will join forces to deal with the individual’s problem;
It is cheaper than individual therapy: without undermining the effectiveness of the therapy, the cost of group sessions is lower than individual therapy because it allows the therapist to deal with more patients at the same time.

Conclusions

This variety, this multiplicity of perspectives, makes online group psychotherapy an extremely powerful tool. Not only does it allow for a renewed approach, but it also expands possibilities precisely because it is independent of the physical location where it takes place. Group members, therefore, coming from culturally and geographically diverse backgrounds, each contribute significantly and effectively to the success of the therapy.