Analysis of Nonverbals
The group therapist and members of the group can often help make an individual better aware of how his or her behavior has contributed to personal problems. For example, Jim tends to be shy, makes poor eye contact with people, has bad posture, and speaks indistinctly because he has a habit of covering his mouth with his fingers. The impression he makes on people is weak. By helping him pay attention to these nonverbal habits, group members can encourage Jim to change so he will be more successful, for example, at job interviews and generally feel more confident.
APPLICATIONS OF GROUP THERAPY
As we have seen, group therapy is most helpful to people with these characteristics:
* They are lonely, socially isolated, or passive.
* Their sense of worth depends greatly on what others think of them.
* They would like to improve their interpersonal skills.
* They may be drawn to group therapy for the practical reason that it tends to be less expensive than individual therapy.
Group therapy has the distinct advantage of providing clients with multiple points of view; they receive feedback from the therapist as well as from other members of the group.
Group therapy is potentially useful for a very wide range of problems. This is evident from the fact that most approaches to psychotherapy offer therapy in a group setting. Group therapy is generally not the treatment of choice for these individuals: