Can group therapy be used to address early life experiences?
Answer
Group therapy provides a rich opportunity for individuals to heal from early life experiences, akin to the positive impact of an individual therapeutic relationship. However, participating in a group can bring forth discomfort, a natural response as past experiences with various groups, such as family, school, peer groups, and religious institutions, may resurface. This discomfort is not inherently negative but rather an integral part of the healing process. Participants often bring unresolved and unexpressed aspects of their history, shaped by groups they didn't choose during childhood. Recognizing and addressing these challenges is crucial in fostering a supportive and therapeutic group environment.
Shira Sameroff, LCSW, has decades of experience working with people of diverse identities, ages, and life stories in a wide array of settings. Her professional roles have included therapy, supervision, professional development, college teaching, coaching, community organizing, transformative decluttering, and a decade and a half on the leadership team of a community-based social work agency.
Shira weaves together a range of therapeutic healing modalities, including IFS, Hakomi, and other somatic, nature-based, and anti-oppressive practices. She offers professional development for individuals and organizations around themes including shame, group facilitation, supervision, giving and receiving feedback, empowering practice with youth, tending to self as a practitioner, and trauma-informed and oppression-informed therapy.
The heart of her work is helping humans reconnect with themselves, each other, and the natural world to enable deep individual and collective healing. Her approach is collaborative, intuitive, and full of heart and is rooted in her own lived experience of healing, learning, and emerging.
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