On this episode, you’ll hear from Dr Robert Pepper, author of Some People Don’t Want What They Say They Want, and a therapist who’s been running groups for over twenty-five years and has a special gift in helping member’s resolve conflicts with relationships, both personal and professional. In group therapy, members learn to resolve obstacles to developing healthy relationships through interactions between members of the group. Listen now to learn more about what group therapy can do to support healthy relationships.
Reach out to Rob at drpepperphd.com.
Bonus thoughts from Dr. Pepper around the topic of using your friends to replace therapy:
There are at least two reasons why friends and family can’t replace group therapy. Frankly, I believe it’s quite psychologically naive to think that group therapy is unnecessary if a person has good friends and family. Good friends and family complement group therapy; they don’t replace it. For one thing, good friends and relatives usually aren’t objective. They have their own biases and opinions about what is best for us. And as “Dear Abby” has so brilliantly observed: “Unsolicited advice is always self-serving”. Group members in a secure group environment, are in a better position to see our needs and foibles more clearly.
Second, and to my mind more importantly, social relationships are not designed to absorb the full impact of our own, nor friends, family and a life partner’s feelings. In group therapy the directive to members is: “Say everything.” That is clearly not a wise thing to do in non-therapy relationships. That is because there are some powerful, “dark” feelings that are better left unsaid in close, intense, personal relationships. They are better said in the safe context of a secure group. To share every thought and feeling with a loved one can be hurtful and damaging to the relationship. In group therapy it’s different. At the same time, our closest friends and relatives are there to provide TLC when we need it, while group members are there for us only weekly at a specific time and place. The restrictions prohibiting outside contact and physical contact in the group, plus the contract, ensure that there will be no real-life consequences to group interactions and that group is a safe place where members’ words can’t come back to haunt them in their personal or professional relationships.
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What a wonderful episode! Dr. Robert Pepper is an amazing teacher and practitioner on group psychotherapy. He helps us navigate through the group process, both from the perspective of the therapist and the client.
I am writing a review of S2 Ep 5 – WTF Is Group Therapy with Dr. Robert Pepper PhD. This podcast was absolutely amazing. I have been a patient of Doctor Pepper for many years, both in an individual capacity and a group capacity. Doctor Pepper is very knowledgeable in his area. Part of the reason that he is very successful is the way he sets the boundaries, as he indicates by setting a group rule that there is no interaction outside of the treatment environment. This gives a safe feeling where you could say whatever you want without being judged outside of the group, and it also helps legally that there is no confidentiality that is divulged, which can cause HIPAA concerns.
If I was considering going into a group environment and I had my concerns, listening to this podcast would definitely make me want to go to Doctor Pepper. This podcast would raise my curiosity, and I would want to go to Doctor Pepper to see how he can help me? I know if I brought this up in the group, he would say curious is intellectual, and what is your feeling? If I did not have a feeling, he would say if you did have a feeling, what would that be?
If there is one thing that I learned that helped me in the years of being in the group with Dr Pepper, it is that the interactions with the different people in the group help me unconsciously deal with my everyday interactions with my children and work ethics. As an example, before going to see Dr. Pepper, I took a lot of things for granted that I now know unconsciously, I articulate now. For example, when I talk to my son or my daughter, I tell them that I love them. You may assume that, of course, you love your child, but until you say it, it is not the same thing. I have my children now saying that to me after every conversation that I have with them on the phone, It always ends with “I love you, dad.” That in itself makes me feel good.
If you are thinking of going into a group setting but scared or feel it may not be for you, I would suggest trying one or two sessions and then making a decision.. It is definitely worth the investment in mental health.
I definitely enjoyed listening to this podcast between Helene Amster Kopel and Doctor Pepper. She definitely asked the right questions and and Dr. Pepper had great answers.