Group Therapy Reflection

Thus far, over the course of the past several weeks we have discussed four important topics regarding the subject of group therapy. We have reviewed Holistic Treatment, Therapeutic Factors, problematic clients and group norms. In conjunction with our discourse each student was asked to attend, observe, and reflect on the skills that were demonstrated during a meeting. This brief overview of the observations made while visiting the New Day AA Club will address the four topics that have been reviewed and assess the used skills by answering the following questions. The first goal is discern the use of holistic treatment; did the meeting specify a holistic approach to treatment? What therapeutic factors were employed during the group meeting? Were
Discussing the topic of being alone versus being lonely, the group members exhibited the instillation of hope, universality, imparting information, and development of socializing techniques. As each member shared their stories of the loneliness that they experienced why heavily immersed in their addictions, versus the recognition of the serene comfort that can be found in being alone, one member after the next stated the consolation found in hearing the commonalities. Everyone shared their stories freely, teaching the entire group successful methods to overcome loneliness and how to embrace the meditative moments that present themselves. One member in particular spoke of his profound experience and how he learned to fine-tune and change the behaviors that threw him into the endless cycle of loneliness and
The therapeutic qualities, universality and self-disclosure that were shown even enabled me to relate with the members, and I have never struggled with alcoholism. The only negative that I came away with is the superficial religiosity. While there may be Christian based AA groups that place more focus on the spiritual connotations, as the group disbanded I could not help but feel that true spirituality was the missing element that would afford the members to the opportunity to have a more holistic path to