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Women’s Therapy GroupBonnie Weiss, MA, LCSWI was recently reminded of the healing power of a therapy group. I attended a lecture by an old Hakomi therapy master, and viewed what he was calling his “refined method.” His work used assistants or group members actively in the process of healing a client’s old traumatic pain. I fondly remember my work in the 70”s and 80’s as a Psychodrama practitioner and Gestalt trainer, when we used participants to re-enact old family scenes, giving people an opportunity to re-experience the dynamics of their family’s emotional field and sense its impact on them. The saying, “Something old is new again.” came to mind.My past therapeutic work engaged group members in creating healing experiences for each other. Someone could experience having a loving mother, for example or being nestled in a supportive family, or standing up for their rights. Clients were able to take actions that they needed to do as a child but wouldn’t have been safe or tolerated in their family. They immersed themselves in ideal family structures and had corrective emotional experiences. The impact was deeply moving for all concerned. In recent decades my focus has been on facilitating internal support for change. My own spiritual explorations led me to embrace the Internal Family Systems method of therapy which uses the true Self as the healing agent. I have been working with people to identify and peel away their parts to uncover the highest level of their essential nature. As an IFS therapist, I trust that this Self, with its capacities of compassion, curiosity, caring, and connectedness, can heal the internal system. I’ve assisted people to access the Self, and support its development of bonding relationships with the fragile parts. This is a wonderful system and works extremely well. The lecture the other night set me thinking about how to enhance this with external support. I was reminded that I had begun to move back in that direction when I developed the concept of the Inner Champion to aid in working with the Inner Critic. My image was a circle of women chanting specific positive mantras to a central woman to act as an antidote to her critic's attacks and to support her self-esteem. Over and over again, this has proved a powerful experience our Inner Critic workshops. Groups have many advantages. They can provide a dynamic arena for normalizing people’s feelings. It is always liberating to hear others struggle with things that you have harbored as dark personal secrets. When you bring your hurt parts out into the light and see them accepted by others, it can actually create a shift in the brain chemistry that kept the memory in place. This nurturing experience can alter your perception of yourself and the world. In addition, active participation in another’s transformation can enhance your feelings of personal capacity and self esteem. I believe that physically present outer support can strengthen the inner Self to become more of a sustainable emotional station for inner work. In the group, individual work can be combined with interactive group work to develop a group Self that is a healing force for all concerned. Group members can empower the voice of your Self. They can serve as reminders of its capacity to be a nurturing parent to your hurting inner child. Their chorus can inject hope and optimism into the darkness and support your strength. Their gentle touch can provide the tactile support of unconditional love. |
