The theme of this year’s annual conference of  the Eastern Group Psychotherapy  Society (EGPS) in New York City, is: ” Being Alive in the Moment”.  Yesterday, at a workshop that I attended, someone asked a good question: “What’s the value of being in the moment?”   Here’s my answer.  Group therapy is a laboratory for life. The underlying assumption of participating in group is that it’s better to know what you’re feeling than not know.  However, not everyone values knowing their feelings because the process is a painful one. Emotions are like energy; they can neither be created nor destroyed– they can only change form.  Since all our decisions in life are driven by our feelings, whether we are aware of them or not, we have three choices; one of them is conscious the other two aren’t: 1. Put your feelings into words ( When someone says, “I feel that…. {fill in the blank}” they have moved away from a feeling) 2. Put the feeling into an impulsive action that is often detrimental to the person and to the others around them. 3. Put the feelings into your body and develop symptoms. Through group process, members are made aware of how others feel about them and how they feel toward others.  This translates into their personal relationships outside of group, allowing  members to consciously choose which feelings to act on.  I believe that this is one of the most valuable lessons of life and being in the moment.