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About 6-15 anxiety disorder patients are normally treated together in an anxiety group therapy, contrary to consulting a therapist individually. However, dealing with anxiety in group therapy has some benefits, but disadvantages as well.
All the participants in one group have the same disorder experienced themselves. Consequently it will give the individual a more comfortable feeling. He or she will soon start to realize that their problem is not an isolated one. Once they realize that there are others in the same situation, it can become life-affirming for them, especially if the anxiety disorder makes them believe that they are some sort of an outsider or being a “freak” or being different from, and therefore inferior to the majority of society.
One of the great advantages of anxiety group therapy is the input of the experience the fellow patients have. It can help in finding solutions to everyone’s troubles. A therapist might not have established that by him- or herself.
The patient, when learning coping skills like the ones learned through cognitive anxiety therapy, can profit from understandings based on shared experiences of a situation which causes anxiety, suggested by the patient’s group members.
The comfortof being in a group setting lessens anxiety and can relax the patient. It motivates the individual to speak about goals, ambitions and likely solutions to the problems that cause the anxiety disorder. This a great advantage of anxiety group therapy over individual treatments.
Unfortunately there are some clear disadvantages that anxiety group therapy has over individualized treatment. Because it is a group setting, the therapist could be limited to approach the participants just in general, contrary to tailored solutions required by each patient’s needs. Further, these settings might limit the time the therapist can find to deal with everyone’s individual problem appropriately. This can cause a feeling of being lost in the crowd.
Because of this reason, group anxiety therapy programs are normally run in conjunction with individual sessions with a health care professional. Each patient is taken out of the group for a specific time each day to get his or her own advice by a therapist or a licensed counselor. Themes that cannot be adequately handled in a group setting are discussed there, such as the individual’s medication. Both, anxiety group therapy and individual therapy together will guarantee that all the patient’s requirements are met.
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