The following is the Preface to my next book. The blog entry of July 15th called: “The Body Poet” is a sample chapter. If the concept of this book intrigues you, please let me know.
Preface: 99 Unconventional Interventions in Group Psychotherapy
99 Unconventional Interventions in Group Psychotherapy has been written in response to requests from participants, of the many professional workshops across the country, and in Canada, that I have given over the years on the subject of working with aggression in group treatment. These professional group leaders have asked me: “Where can I read about your methods for treating difficult groups and group members?”. This book is my answer to that question; but first, there are two disclaimers.
First, the unconventional interventions presented here are only used with groups in which I have a strong working alliance with members. I would never use many of these techniques with new members or with members whose egos are so fragile that they could not tolerate the rough and tumble of group. Second, this book isn’t for every group leader. The interventions may not work for every clinician. In fact, they have not always worked for me. As much as they are unconventional, they are also controversial. Some have said that my interventions—“shoot from the hip”. This is partly due to the fact that leading groups is quite challenging, even more so than individual therapy. With all the combinations and permutations of dynamics seemingly going on at once, it often feels like leading a group is” flying by the seat of your pants”. I can assure you that it isn’t. This is both the challenge and the gratification of group leadership. One never knows what is going to happen but the leader is expected to handle the unexpected. That’s the skill of it. This book is more than another ‘how to’ or ‘group psychotherapy for dummies’ manual (put 8 chairs in a circle and get a box of tissues). In order for group leaders to master the techniques of group psychotherapy, it is imperative to have a clear theoretical understanding of the nature interpersonal change in analytic treatment and the leader’s role in facilitating it. This can only come from many years of a combination of their own experience as a treatment group member and participation in training groups. There is no short-cut.
99 Interventions is an amalgam of unconventional interventions culled from more than 35 years of training with senior leaders of various approaches to group therapy such as: gestalt, ego analytic, modern analytic, psychodynamic theory. For example, the mastery of modern analytic techniques such as bridging, mirroring, joining, out-crazying, and confronting is an important step toward mastering the craft of therapist. Some of the unconventional interventions herein, are my own original techniques that I have developed while training nascent group leaders and while leading groups in public schools, colleges, training institutes, prisons, clinics and my own private practice. The first step of working effectively as a group therapist is to understand one’s own countertransference, the induced feelings by the group and to be able to metabolize them, then constructively employing interventions that further the group member’s willingness and ability to talk about those emotions in the group.
As much as group members want to improve their relationships, they also resist change. Human beings are inherently inconsistent. We are all of two minds about almost everything. We sometimes hate the ones we love; we want to progress in life but are afraid to make alterations and so on. If personal change were as straightforward and simple as “change your brain” brands of therapy claim, then everyone would do it. In fact, recent research has shown that over time, the effects of CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) tend to dissipate while gains through analytic treatment tend to last. To believe we can change our personalities just by force of will is, to my mind, naïve. It is group leader’s task to help members resolve their ambivalence about change. This can be accomplished through the development of progressive emotional communication between group members. Progressive means that the dialogue adds new dimensions to their relationships. Emotional means that the interaction is infused with spontaneous feeling; and communication refers to the interpersonal nature of the interaction. This is no small task because members’ emotional investment in the status quo is a strong one, even if it isn’t working.
This is because emotions are not of the intellect. Research over the last century confirms that personality is formed before the development of words. That is why, the traditional mode of therapist interventions, the interpretation, don’t necessarily work. Michels (1983) defines interpretation as “any intervention that aims to increase the patient’s insight and understanding or to expand his or her awareness” (p. 61). Our personalities are formed within the first few years of life when the world is experienced through impulses and emotions, not thinking. In my more than 35 years as a group psychotherapist I have frequently learned this the hard way, particularly with the more difficult group members, those people who have been most damaged in their early childhood and have recreated their conflicts about relationships in their adult relationships. In fact, interpretations may do more harm than good. Often group members with wobbly self-esteem experience interpretations as a verbal attack and are damaged by them. (See Pepper, 2014). It is for this reason that non-traditional techniques are so important in effective group leadership. This is why I have studied unconventional techniques to help resolve group and group members’ resistances to emotional intimacy.
While this book was written primarily with professional group therapists in mind, I believe that it would also be of value to therapists enrolled in group therapy training institutes. Past, present or future group members may be intrigued by how the process works; and the general population of readers would be fascinated to view in an insider’s tool chest of the techniques of a powerful healing profession.
