Group therapy in Gothenburg, Sweden. Improve your relationships and change lifelong patterns.
About group therapy
Group therapy is an effective and powerful form of treatment where a number of people, usually between 6 to 8, meet together under the guidance of a professional psychologist to support, understand and help themselves and each other. It is a form of therapy that has been widely accepted for over 50 years and is, according to research, as effective as individual psychotherapy, sometimes even more so. In a lively, warm and committed group, participants are able to discover, explore and resolve the patterns that hinder satisfying relationships.
The quality of our lives depends largely on the quality of our relationships. We have all grown up and been shaped by groups of different kinds, in family, work, study and leisure activities. Working therapeutically in a group means sharing your problems and difficulties, trying to understand yourself and others better, and learning from and with others. The value of group therapy lies in the possibility of allowing individuals within the group to recreate the relational patterns that arise in life outside the therapy room, in a way that is more difficult to access in individual sessions. Together with the group and the psychologist, it is possible to gain insight into one's own patterns, blocks and ways of keeping others at a distance, which often prevent us from living fully and that impact our quality of life. The group becomes a kind of social laboratory and thus offers the possibility to freely experiment with new and more helpful behaviors.
Although group therapy is a potent form of treatment, many people find the idea of talking to other strangers in a group difficult and scary. You are not alone in thinking this way. But once you get past the initial fear, it becomes a place of safety and support. Within that cohesiveness, the possibility of real and lasting change opens up. It creates an opportunity to be helped and empowered by a group, while sharing and facilitating the lives of others.
Like individual psychotherapy, group therapy can be helpful for a wide range of psychological, emotional and relational problems. Some common themes people seek out are depression, anxiety, relationship and social issues, grief and loss, behavioral patterns, existential thoughts, or personality and self-image issues. It is also helpful for those who simply want to understand more about themselves and their relationships. The focus of group therapy is on relational learning, insight and change.
"I wanted to go to group therapy to understand myself better in relationships. I had been in several psychological treatments before which had helped in different ways but I still found it sometimes difficult in relationships. The group treatment was very good for me even though it was hard during the journey. It was helpful to talk about my problems with other people and not just with a therapist. My problems became clearer and it felt more real than when I went to previous treatments. After the group I feel more confident in relationships and I understand why I react one way with some and another way with others. Thanks to Max and everyone in the group."
- Past participants
Group therapy has many documented benefits which include:
✅ Improved communication and social skills. The group provides the opportunity to try new ways of expressing yourself and relating to others and to get feedback on new behaviors in a supportive, confidential environment.
✅ Reduced feelings of shame and isolation. Learning about the difficulties faced by other members helps you realize that you are not alone and that others are working on similar issues.
✅ Greater sense of belonging and acceptance. Over time, members get to know and trust each other. The experience of others knowing you and being invested in your well-being leads to a sense of belonging and acceptance.
✅ Increased self-esteem and confidence. Members will understand how they are helpful to each other, and thus become more aware of their own strengths. This usually leads to increased self-esteem and confidence.
✅ Better understanding of yourself and others. Receiving feedback from group members gives you a greater understanding of yourself and your impact on others. It also helps you express and explore your thoughts and feelings, deepening your self-awareness.
What do you do?
So how does it work? In practical terms, the group meets at my clinic at Järntorget in Gothenburg, Sweden. The sessions are 90 minutes long and take place every week. Participants try to express their problems, feelings, ideas and reactions as openly, spontaneously and honestly as possible. It is this important information that allows us to understand and help each other. In this way, you will learn not only how to deal with and change your own difficulties, but also how to be helpful to others. In group therapy, we work with the members' questions and the reactions that arise during the therapy session.
Together, we address the problems and issues that the participants bring with them at any given time with a special focus on how your relationship patterns are repeated in the group. As a psychologist, I am there to guide the conversation, deepen the processes that arise and ensure that the sessions are therapeutic. There is no predetermined end and you participate as long as it is helpful for you. The group is mixed in terms of problem description, age, gender, sexuality, culture and personality, but everyone is there to work on their own issues in a therapeutic way.
I, as a psychologist, choose participants who I believe would be helped by, be an asset to and have an opportunity to benefit from group therapy. Since the group format means that several people share the time, one of the benefits for you is that the cost is less. The fact that the price is lower does not in any way mean that the treatment is inferior. On the contrary, group therapy is often preferable for many people. In addition to group therapy, there are various alternative treatments, such as individual psychotherapy, couples/family therapy, medication or a combination of these options. You are welcome to discuss your particular situation to see what might be most helpful for you and your issues.
Frequently asked questions
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When considering trying group therapy, it is common to have many questions and concerns. What will I get out of this? Will there be enough time for me to deal with my own problems in a group? What if I don't like the others in the group? Will I be accepted? Will I talk too much? Will I talk too little? All concerns are common and welcome.
Studies have shown that groups are often better at solving problems than individuals. The collective wisdom of a group is both deeper and broader than that of any individual. When there are many of us in the room, we can find out if our assumptions are correct by getting feedback from several sources, coherent or mixed. This allows us to see how we affect other people and how they affect us. We can then use the group's reactions in the here-and-now to practice the things we struggle with and create a change that carries over to life outside the consulting room.
The group format offers some specific advantages that individual therapy does not. Firstly, the cost is kept down by the fact that the group consists of several people, making it cheaper than seeing a psychologist individually. It also has a greater potential to allow you to repeat your everyday relationship patterns, and thus to work on them. This is because more people allow for a greater range of reactions that might not be apparent in contact with a single psychologist. It also allows for a more nuanced view of how you are perceived by others, as more people can share their experience - people who are not there in a professional role. It also provides an opportunity to experiment with and practice new behaviors. In addition, many people report that their words carry more weight when they are received by a group, compared to an individual psychologist.
Psychotherapy, whether individual or group, is only effective if it addresses and changes our unhelpful and habitual patterns of relating. A basic idea in group therapy is that the patterns we have in life outside the therapy room will follow us and repeat themselves there. The same is also true in reverse, that is, what happens in the group reflects something that happens outside. This means that within the group we can get hold of the individual problems and work with them while they are happening, in a way that is more difficult in an individual contact.
In group, participants can identify and express feelings, reactions and beliefs that have been historically avoided, and respond to them rather than reflexively suppressing them. The group is primarily an instrument to identify and address emotional blocks and limitations. By working through issues of boundaries, trust, communication and conflict, the conditions are created for both meaningful personal relationships and better achievement of professional goals.
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Many people are unaccustomed to the group format and nervous about what it would mean to talk about themselves and their difficulties in therapy with others. It is natural to feel fear and nervousness about the idea of group therapy, but this tends to subside once it is tried and understood.
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In the group, we work together on the questions each person brings to understand the role you play in shaping your own life. The aim is to allow all participants to share a meaningful story about who they are. In practice, this means a mission with two main points:
Exploring your own issues that led you to seek therapy
Understand as much as you can about your relationship with each individual group participant and the group leader
Much of what we talk about concerns relationships inside and outside the therapy room, but other topics can also be touched on such as anxiety, depression, stress, loss, addiction, sexuality or dreams. No topics are given by me as a group leader, but we work with what the group comes up with.
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Group therapy is much more than a simple extension of individual therapy, where the psychologist goes around the circle trying to help each person in isolation with their individual problems. Mere passive listening is rarely helpful to anyone, either the speaker or the listener. Effective group therapy is more about the relationships that are formed between the group participants and how these relationships trigger old habitual relationship patterns, both helpful and destructive. This means that we not only point out each other's difficulties, but also get an opportunity to see each others strengths and how they can be used.
Most people feel that they have plenty of time to express themselves and that it can be very helpful even when it is someone else's question that dictates the conversation. Should it be the case that you feel that you find it difficult to speak and get attention, this is of the utmost importance to find the courage to raise. There is a high probability that something in the group is repeating a pattern that happens to you in other relationships too.
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In individual psychotherapy, two people focus on one person's problem for 45 minutes, while group therapy lasts 90 minutes and usually involves 6-8 participants. Therefore, the math says that you get more space to talk directly to the psychologist in individual sessions. This would argue in favor of individual psychotherapy in all cases, provided that the effective factor in psychotherapy was time spent talking about your problems with a listening psychologist. However, this is not the case. In group therapy, participants get to hear both each other's and the psychologist's perspectives on their issues. It quickly becomes apparent that it is not only when participants talk that change occurs within and between participants. The results of psychotherapy are not directly proportional to the time spent with the psychologists attention.
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There are many things that distinguish group therapy from other forms of help offered in a group format. To begin with, all participants in group therapy are encouraged not to have any contact with each other outside the therapy room. This is a way of ensuring safety in the room through the knowledge that no conversations are going on behind your back.
Therapy groups are always led by a professional psychologist or psychotherapist who is specifically trained to do so. There is also no particular theme that unites the therapy groups that I offer. In many group settings, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, the focus is on sharing and interaction between participants is kept to a minimum. In group therapy, on the contrary, it is the interaction in the room that is the most important material we work with. Group therapy can certainly offer a supportive function, but it also aims to be transformative. The aim is not only to deal with the acute symptoms, but to address the underlying causes to create a real, deep and sustainable change.
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Of course not. Just like in individual therapy, you share what you want and feel comfortable with at your own pace. While it is true that for group therapy to be helpful, sooner or later you will have to disclose yourself and take some emotional risks, it is always on your own terms. You decide what you want to work on and when you will do it. I, as the group leader, will help you with how to work on this once you have identified what it is you want to work on. All participants have been new members at some point and will allow you to come into the group at your own pace.
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There are a few things that you are required to accept and live up to in order to participate in group therapy. These are in place to create an emotionally safe environment for all participants:
Continuous participation
Group therapy differs from individual psychotherapy in that if you miss a session, it is like missing a chapter of a book. This means that you need to know that you can come every week at the agreed time. In case of illness and travel, the possibility to participate remotely is offered. Of course, there are occasional exceptions, but it is important that everyone in the group is regularly present. This also means that everyone commits to being there on time.
Confidentiality
Another aspect that distinguishes group therapy from individual sessions is that all participants share confidentiality. This means that we don't talk about the others in the group outside. It is fine to talk about your own process and experience with anyone you want, but what the others talk about, all names and all identifiable information is strictly confidential.
No socializing outside sessions
Everyone in the group agrees not to meet outside the clinic. It creates a sense of security to know that no conversations are going on behind your back and that all processes are open.
Initial commitment
All new participants commit to attending 12 sessions before deciding whether or not to continue. Within these, you are free to have all sorts of reactions, feelings and impulses. But instead of leaving the group if it feels difficult or hard, we try to find a way to talk about it.
Exit
After your initial commitment, you are free to leave the group when it feels like the right time for you, hopefully when you feel you have achieved your goals. When you feel ready to end your participation, I would like you to bring this up and discuss it with the group a few sessions before your last session, rather than just leaving or notifying me via email for example.
Risk-taking
To be helped by the group, sooner or later you will have to share who you are. This can be scary at first, but usually gets easier after you get a feel for the group and its structure. This is always done at your own pace and for your own benefit. In our initial individual sessions, you will be given more information about expectations and how to make the most of the sessions.
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Combining group therapy with an individual psychotherapy can be particularly powerful. Group therapy is well documented to be effective on its own, but can also be combined with medication, individual psychotherapy or 12-step programs depending on your specific situation. You can have individual sessions with me, or with another psychologist. In that case, it is helpful to start working together to ensure that you get the best possible help and that the two processes reinforce each other.
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As a group leader, I compose the groups in an attempt to create a helpful mix of people and they usually contain a collection of people who can be helpful to each other. The ambition is to reflect the world outside the therapy room as much as possible, which means, for example, that the group contains an equal number of women and men and that the ages are mixed. No one will have exactly the same situation as you, but you will be able to recognize yourself in essential parts of the others in the group. Some will have questions that you don't recognize for yourself and this is often very rewarding as well, since it means you can offer each other different perspectives. Don't be so sure that the people you have the most in common with are the ones you will learn the most from. In the unlikely event that you know someone else in the group, we will talk about it when the situation arises. If it is not possible to work on this connection with the participant in the group, we will find another group that is more suitable for you.
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Everyone who is about to start group therapy has first met me for at least one individual session. This tends to ease the initial anxiety and fear that naturally arises when entering a new group. It is expected and natural to be nervous about the first few sessions with the group. However, with regular sessions and participation, trust is built up with the other participants and the initial anxiety decreases. Talking to the group is then transformed into a source of confidence, relief and reduced loneliness. Many people experience, perhaps for the first time, that they are not alone in feeling the way they do.
The other participants will offer support, feedback and inspiration but will also challenge you in your ways of thinking. Often, it is the very fact of opening up to others that is perceived as daunting that makes group therapy so helpful. Overcoming this barrier opens up completely different possibilities in life. I, as a group leader, help to facilitate the possibility of expressing feelings and thoughts with the others in the group and the feelings that are aroused towards each other in the group. Most of the time, this leads to participants starting to look forward to the sessions and what is created together. It usually brings a sense of pride to find new ways to express yourself. The more you get involved in the group, the more you will get out of it.
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I have several years of experience working with groups in my own private practice and I am a member of the Swedish Association for Group Psychotherapy and Group Development. Group therapy is unfortunately not available at most educational institutions in Sweden at present, which has led me to choose to deepen my own education at The Center for Group Studies in New York. In addition to my ongoing studies, I have educated myself through my own group therapy and with the help of experienced supervisors.
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I work primarily from a psychodynamic and existential basis. The inspiration and theories come from interpersonal process groups and modern group analytic methodology.
How much does it cost?
The price for a session is SEK 500 for students, unemployed and others with special needs and SEK 800 for others. You pay as a membership, i.e. even if you are not able to attend at some point.
What times are there to choose from?
Mondays 17:30-19:00
In the spring, a new English-speaking group will also be started. The time is not yet determined. Let me know your personal preferences.
How do I join one of your groups?
Book an initial individual session. The easiest way to do this is directly in my calendar by following the link below. If you can't find a suitable time, send me an email. In such a conversation, I try to find out if your questions would fit in the groups I lead and otherwise give you suitable alternatives. We will work together to find out if it would be a suitable option for you. It is also an opportunity for you to find out if you want to work with me, ask all your questions and make sure you are prepared in the best way to get the most out of your participation in the group.