Group Therapy in Atlanta:
The Atlanta Center for Social Therapy

Group Therapy is Our Expertise

Social therapy is a group approach to psychotherapy. Life is seen in relational terms, as a world of complex relational activity that makes up our life experience. Learning to grow and being creative with others is essential to living life fully and joyfully.

Our method provides a powerful and effective approach to helping people grow. As trainers and teachers of group therapy, we have seen many people with emotional challenges achieve significant success in our group therapeutic approach.

How does group therapy work?

Group therapy offers a context for people to work on their personal goals through creating a supportive and challenging group environment. As the group grows, the individual grows. This structure creates a unique opportunity for growth and learning. People come away with a deeper awareness of self and others. It is an environment for safer experimentation with others, to experience multiple perspectives, to create new ways of communicating, and to deal productively with intense emotions. People develop emotional strengths, improving skills needed to build healthy relationships.

When we experience emotional problems, our relationships can be even more difficult to negotiate. The alienation and disconnection that is a common life experience becomes even more intense and multiplies the emotional pain. Change becomes more difficult. These experiences are powerfully addressed in a group. The group experience offers people a way to learn how to develop the ongoing support of a social network. People learn to be leaders in creating the very environment needed to grow and develop. Social therapy trains people to actively build supportive environments in their everyday lives.

Many people have experienced group therapy as having had a profound impact on their emotional pain, making it possible to live richer and more fulfilling lives.

Some topics addressed by group therapy:

Group Therapy for Recovery

Once you have made the important life decisions to eliminate destructive behavior, such as the destructive effects of drugs or alcohol, what do you do to grow? We offer group experiences that support you to learn more about your relationship to others, growing in your capacity for more intimate involvement with others, and develop experiences that support personal, emotional, and spiritual growth.

Group Therapy for Personality Disorders

Our groups combine mindful, here-and-now experiences along with honest, loving support to help you to grow in areas you may not have thought possible. Learning about your impact on others, what to do with the intense emotional experiences you go through and seeing how others impact on you, can constitute a crucial break-out from your self-absorbed emotional life. Social therapy has helped people grow beyond personality disorders to a full, enriching, and growthful life with others.

Group Therapy for Self-Destructive Behavior

People often engage in self-destructive behavior as a way to deal with, shame, pain, and the ramifications of painful life experiences. While group therapy cannot prevent you from engaging in self-destructive behavior, it can help you to develop the ability to make new choices.

Group Therapy for Social Anxiety/Social Phobia

In a group, you have a supportive context to be more open with others, to become comfortable with the discomfort of relating to others, and to become aware of the impact that you may have on others. Group is the gym where you develop your emotional and social muscles, helping you relate to others more effectively.

Group Therapy for Anxiety and Panic

Many people have found group therapy helpful to break out of the sense of intense isolation that accompanies and generates a feeling of panic. We can help you to relate to the normal experiences of anxiety and gain control of your emotional response. We help people to learn that emotion is something that you do rather than something that happens to you, allowing you to choose new performances.

Group Therapy for Assertiveness

Group helps you to be more assertive by teaching you to be a leader in your life; to communicate honestly, directly and openly in all your relationships. Group members learn the impact they have on each other and become accountable. Group is a place to develop a greater sense of connectedness with others and to develop a sense of power and usefulness in your relationships.

Group Therapy for Depression

Depression has become a significant cultural fact in our society. People have found group therapy to be enormously helpful in renewing connection to life and to a sense of purposefulness. The alienation that we experience in our relationships is challenged by the intimacy of the group setting, giving you an opportunity to create new meaning in your life.

Group Therapy for Career/Employment

People often find themselves stuck in a rut at work, finding it difficult to use their creativity or passion professionally. When it comes to creating new career choices or reinvigorating one's passion for work, group offers a playground for people to develop new life directions.

Group Therapy for Male Development

Men often come into therapy feeling disconnected from their close friends and love partners, and are unable to communicate well emotionally. Group is an environment where men learn more about how to develop relationships that are meaningful and challenging.

Group Therapy for Codependency

Many people deal with problems of relating to others in ways that are out of touch with their needs and boundaries. This is particularly true in very close relationships, such as with family members. Saying "yes" to others can mean losing your sense of who you are. Social therapy group helps you to create relationships where you learn to say "yes" in a way that is healthier and more powerful.

Group Therapy for Trauma, Grief and Loss

One painful aspect of trauma and loss is the intensity of loneliness and isolation. This can exacerbate the impact of a traumatic event or loss. We are taught to contain these feelings at work and with family and friends. People learn in group how to share their painful feelings and experiences in ways that build intimacy, create connection, and are nurturing to self and others.

Group Therapy for Women's Issues

Even in today's culture, women may hold back from being a leader, from being assertive and straightforward, both with men and other women. It is not uncommon for women to feel constrained by role expectations and the judgments of others. Group offers a supportive place to learn how to be more direct and honest, to be less concerned with how one is viewed, and to create an environment for producing more meaningful and powerful relationships.

Group Therapy for GLBT Issues

There is enormous value being in a diverse, heterogeneous group. There you can find support to be more powerful as gay, lesbian, or bisexual or transsexual. Groups can be instrumental in providing a safe, nuturing environment to grow and develop.

Group Therapy for Stress

Sometimes when we are under stress or in crisis, we can lose perspective. The crisis or stress can feel like the totality of our life experience. Groups provide growthful perspective that can make stress or crisis more manageable and meaningful.

Group Therapy for Intimacy

Many people grow up in environments that deprive them from experiencing closeness with others. It becomes increasing more difficult to create intimacy within important relationships. Group is an environment where intimacy is the activity, where you learn to support and are supported by others in the process of building the group.

Group Therapy for Family Relationships

Sometimes we find ourselves stuck in roles, habits and attitudes in our family relationships. This dynamic becomes a trap when trying to change and improve the family. In group, people learn new communication skills, making it possible to be with the family in new and different ways. Growing outside the family contributes to the family growth.