Health
7 Reasons to Do Personal Healing Work within a Group
by Alison Harre, LMFT
When it comes to doing personal healing work, there is no shortage of methods available these days. You can find healing practitioners who use anything from psychedelic medicines to cognitive-behavioral therapy to swimming with dolphins and more to support you on your healing journey. The format for how these different modalities are implemented is also shifting.
While the one-on-one healing relationship is still common, a lot of people are doing personal healing work in a group format. Many people are signing up for group healing experiences, such as a healing retreat or workshop. Doing your own personal healing work while in a dedicated group of people has numerous benefits.
The following are 7 reasons to do personal healing work within a group.
healing work in group
1. Being witnessed in a group can be very powerful; the group replicates the family or community who did not witness and care for you to the level you needed at the time of your wounding. Being witnessed by a supportive group allows people to get what they never were able to receive in their family of origin or larger community.
2. Hearing others share their experiences helps us feel less alone, decreases the sense of shame we may have developed, and validates our own experiences. Other people have been through similar experiences; have similar pain and longings. As we listen to them, we begin to relax, and our self-acceptance increases.
3. Certain healing exercises can only be done with a group — when we reenact scenes from childhood in Inner Child healing work, for example, we need other people to play the parts of our personal cast of characters. These exercises are often profound moments on our healing journey.
4. Being part of a group working toward healing gives us a sense of purpose. It can feel so good to show up for others, and to actively participate in group activities. We are part of something larger than us.
5. Group work gives us the opportunity to help and be there for others. This is our natural state as humans, although we may not find ourselves in spaces that allow us to help others as much as we truly want to. Giving and receiving are simply natural parts of the human experience. These groups allow for giving and receiving on a deep, intimate level.
6. It’s often less expensive! Not always, but group work can be more affordable than individual work.
7. We learn from each other. Participants often get more than the facilitator alone has to offer, by learning from other group members.
All of these reasons point to the value of doing personal healing work with a dedicated group. When the time is right for you, look for a group that you are drawn to, and then research the experience of the facilitators. It’s important that they are able to provide emotional safety, clear expectations and stated intentions, so that you are able to do the work you wish to do.
About the Author
Alison Harre, LMFT is a psychotherapist based in Santa Cruz, California. Alison’s passion is facilitating Inner Child Healing for groups of people. Alison combines inner child healing work, subtle body energy healing, toy work and loving compassion to help people heal leftover wounding from childhood. Find out more about her work at www.alisonharrelmft.com.
