Happy Monday - Group Therapy

A psychiatrist was conducting a group therapy session with four young Mothers and their small children 'You all have obsessions,' he observed.

To the first mother, Mary, he said, 'You are obsessed with eating.. You've even named your daughter Candy.'

He turned to the second Mom, Ann: 'Your obsession is with money. Again, it manifests itself in your child's name, Penny.'

He turned to the third Mom, Joan: 'Your obsession is alcohol. This too shows itself in your child's name, Brandy.'

At this point, the fourth mother, Kathy, quietly got up, took her little boy by the hand and whispered, 'Come on, Dick, this guy has no idea what he's talking about. Let's go pick up Willy from school.

 

Group Therapy

A quotation which, for me, sums up part of the value of group therapy. I came across it in the early 1990s when working at the Alder Centre.

"A Hasidic story tells of a man who went for a walk in the forest and got lost. He wandered around for hours trying one path after another, but none of them led out. Then abruptly he came across another hiker walking through the forest. He cried out, "Thank God for another human being. Can you show me the way back to town?"
The other man replied, "No, I am lost too. But we can still help each other in this way. We can tell each other which paths we have already tried and been disappointed in. That will help us find the one that leads out."

from "When all you've ever wanted isn't enough" by Harold S Kushner