Anxiety Group Therapy - Its Treatments

Treating anxiety successfully can involve diverse methods. Generally, the patient will seek advice from a medical professional or therapist individually. However, there is also a different but quite effective therapy available, referred to as anxiety group therapy. This technique can be used in combination with any individual treatment or on its own. Here, a psychologist, psychiatrist or therapist moderates a group consisting of about 6 to 15 anxiety disorder patients. They all share their stories and experiences together. Therefore, they can learn from and take advantage of everybody's experiences to regain control of their lives. The character of these anxiety therapy groups can vary.

First, there is the support group, where several people with anxiety problems meet. They usually discuss their problems and experiences, suggest ideas or just offer general support for each other. This is often a good way to assist in coping with anxiety.

In a skills training group people learn various exercises such as modeling, rehearsal and role playing, all designed to help them understand appropriate behaviors to deal with their anxiety in social situations. It is most likely, that not everyone will require social skills training as part of his or her treatment. These exercises are created particularly for people who have actual deficits in social interaction above and beyond social anxiety.

Exposure therapy is a technique used in cognitive-behavioral therapy. Its purpose is to minimize fear and anxiety triggered by specific situations. Simply by confronting someone with the feared situation, and letting him or her stay in it on repeated occasions, the person will become familiar with the situation to the point that it no longer provokes anxiety. Role play can be an important part of this. For instance, the group can represent the audience for a nervous public speaker or act as the boss for someone asking for a holiday or more money.

Interpersonal process group therapy is usually the right treatment for people who experience troubled relationships, loneliness, depression, grief or loss and low self-esteem. These groups provide a secure environment in which to explore and to discover feelings, to give and to receive feedback and support as well as to practice new and better ways of relating to others. Therefore, improving the quality of their relationships and feelings, will eventually make them much less lonely or isolated.

There are advantages as well as disadvantages for anxiety group therapy. Being part of a group offers people the chance to learn that they are not alone. They will, sooner or later, realize that many other people suffer from anxiety disorders too. They can make new friends, get useful tips and share their experiences. And let's not forget how important it can be to role play feared scenarios, and to receive helpful and positive responses and advice from fellow sufferers.

On the other hand, anxiety group therapy could possibly be too threatening for a number of people. The group setting can limit the therapist's ability to tailor solutions matching each patient's individual needs. Group setting may also lead to feelings like being lost in the crowd, because there might not always be enough time to focus on each patient's specific issues.

However, due to all these facts, group anxiety therapy programs and individual sessions are usually conducted jointly. Each patient is taken out of the group session daily for a specific time period to provide him or her with a one to one counseling with a therapist. These sessions are generally used to address issues that are unsuitable for group settings like the patient's medication. Then again, individual therapy will be the choice for some people. Other sufferers might choose to start with individual sessions and then graduate to anxiety group therapy as some may feel confident enough to embark upon a group program without any prior individual therapy at all.

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