Dr Ng focused on Group Therapy and quoted I Yalom, the psychiatrist-turned-group-therapist. How interesting!
The main function of a group therapy is to provide support, psycho-education and intervention to about 8 to 12 members. Confidentiality is observed by the members in the group. Dr Ng expressed his own surprise that there is no existing Depression Support Group in Singapore. The group therapy process starts with a beginning (bonding/boundary setting), middle (working stage) and end (termination) stage.
The process may be short term which is energy-driven or long term for support and maintenance.
Before the group is formed, screening/selection will be conducted to determine the appropriateness of the group, the level of commitment. About 8 persons will meet privately for 1 ½ hrs per session. Rules will be laid down, such as ‘no drug/alcohol’, have to be present in all meetings, avoid sexual involvement/biases and ‘no physical violence.’ A list of rights, responsibility and expectation will be drawn up before the contract is developed.
The characteristics of a Group Therapy include an initial stage which looks into the likes and dislikes of the members, the worry about risk level and anxiety. The group dynamics allow modeling of leader, attending to fear/anxiety, creating trust, addressing issues outside of group. The group is seated in a round circle.
During the transition stage, the resistance, conflict, difficult behaviour as well as defensive behaviour will be examined.
The working stage provides members to work on the themes. There is self-awareness and intense emotions present at this stage and the focus is on issues. It is also here the progress is being traced.
The ending stage sees the therapist preparing the group for termination about 3 sessions before last session. The rituals include ‘good-bye note’. The future plan and new roles of each member will be addressed.
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