Therapy is a key component of treating substance abuse. Individual therapy is highly important to ensure that your specific and personal needs are being addressed and your healing is progressing. However, most treatment includes some form of group therapy, as well. This is not by chance; there is irreplaceable value to be found in group therapy when recovering from addiction. Group therapy adds depth and a dynamic to your treatment that you cannot obtain solely through individual therapy.
The Power of One
Individual therapy is like looking in the mirror. You can do a deep dive into your soul and explore the source of your substance abuse. Healing as an individual is clearly crucial if you are going to truly heal. Spending time one on one with a therapist helps you to process your trauma, your most intimate pain, and to heal deeply and personally. There is great power in individual therapy.
The Shared Experience of Group Therapy
Group therapy offers another dynamic, however. Learning and processing as a group allow you to see the process of recovery through other people’s viewpoints. There is communal healing that occurs when you share intimate experiences and thoughts, in addition to receiving support instead of judgment. That healing occurs amongst everyone in the group. The dynamic offers a less personal form of healing, and yet the shared experience offers you a more objective outlook on the recovery process.
The Value of Community
One of the most valuable aspects of group therapy is that you get to learn experientially and very tangibly that you are not alone. You are not alone in pain. You are not alone in your substance abuse. You are not alone in your healing, and you are not alone in your recovery. This gift of community allows you to see the bigger picture of recovery. Instead of feeling isolated and lonely, you are empowered by the community of other humans in your group and know that even if your specific experiences are not exactly the same, there are other people in your world now that you can relate to.
Learning Empathy
Addiction is often marked by a general lack of empathy, or the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes. Empathy is a powerful skill in the healing process, though. Learning to look outside of your own limited perspective and suffering and truly see the suffering and views of others allows you more context for your recovery. Understanding others’ pain helps you to get out of your head and consider how your actions impact others for the positive or the negative.
Developing Compassion
Along with empathy, group therapy allows you to develop more compassion for others. Losing yourself in hearing and supporting others allows you to momentarily forget your problems and offer comfort to others. The beauty of this process is that compassion for others offers you more healing. Every time you offer love or support or service to others, you receive love, growth, and healing yourself. Instead of just feeling sorry for yourself and living in isolation, you get to enrich your life with compassion for other human beings.
When Others Inspire Your Healing
Another benefit of therapy as a group is that listening to other people can inspire your own healing. Perhaps someone else has a unique experience, a particular thought, or point of view that you have never considered before. This broadens your perspective and offers you more information and insight into the human experience. Compare it to a window with blinds. Your perspective allows some light to filter through the slats of the blinds. However, group therapy is like opening the blinds fully, and the healing that occurs is like the bright, warm, healing sun.
Why Group Therapy Heals
Within a group, there are also personal dynamics. If you are a highly intense person, there will often be an especially calming person in your life who helps to balance you. Within groups, there are highs and lows and conflicts and moments of shared grief, pain, breakthroughs, and joy. These dynamics are impossible to emulate on an individual level and provide a type of communal healing that is invaluable to you as an individual.
The shared experience of learning and healing together is a type of healing that can only occur with other human beings. The vulnerability it requires to show up and participate in a group strengthens you as a person and can also offer to heal other people. This is why group therapy heals: the sum of the individual parts is greater than just the individual alone.
There is great power and value in using group therapy to treat substance abuse and addiction. The shared human experience of a collective creates an opportunity to learn empathy and compassion for others. Your healing is magnified by the experiences and inspiration of listening and healing along with other human beings. At Promising Outlook, we focus on group therapy because we know that healing collectively is healing powerfully. We offer learning and therapy in a group environment in addition to your individual therapy plan because we know that not only can you benefit from others, but your experience is also important in the healing of others. Call us at (951) 783-2487 today to learn more about collective and individual healing. Find your voice by listening to others. Share your experiences so others can learn from you. Empower your recovery with therapy that opens your heart and mind to help you become a better person.
