Group Therapy
Group therapy is designed to help you share common personal experiences regarding specific issues with other patients in a professional, confidential setting. You can benefit from group therapy by developing a sense of mutual support and fellowship with others and by acquiring a new understanding and skills in the areas that the group focuses on.
Format : Group therapy meets for 60 minutes once weekly led by one or more of our clinicians. The group may vary in size from 2-8 people (briefly larger if a new person is starting just before someone is leaving).
Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality
All patients sign a confidentiality agreement that anything discussed in group therapy cannot be shared by other patients outside of group therapy.
Our group therapists may also provide other types of therapy to some group members. Confidential information that you share in other therapy settings is not shared by your group therapist without your permission.
You or other patients may be seeing other health care providers while participating in group therapy. If you would like your group therapist to speak with another health care provider, please sign a release of information to allow your therapists to communicate with one another.
Types of Groups
There are several types of groups that are designed to meet specific needs, for example:
Process Groups: The primary purpose is to learn about and improve your interpersonal interactions with others
Psychoeducational Groups: The primary purpose is to learn information about a specific topic that is important to you, such as your diagnosis, your medications, or regulating your sleep/wake cycles
Skills Groups: The primary purpose is to learn and practice new skills, like assertiveness, time management, career and leisure planning, or creating and managing a budget
Group therapy can help you identify and change problem behaviors, provide you with support and encouragement, combat feelings of loneliness, and provide a community of others with similar challenges.
Keeping Your Existing Treatment Team While Attending Groups
Some new patients would like to attend The Arroyos groups but do not want to change therapists or psychiatrists that they have already been working with who are not part of The Arroyos professional team. In these situations we request that the patient sign a release of information so that we can speak with the treating professionals regarding coordination of professional services.