The Power of Groups
I encourage many of my clients to consider group work, for its enormous potential for cr
eating the climate in which change can happen. Being with others learning to live in the present moment and working together on shared emotional barriers is a unique opportunity for growth. The groups I run are not encounter groups or support groups. They focus instead on setting core skills in motion in such a way that members build a shared space, a group intelligence that allows new aspects of each member’s self to emerge in a safe way. The emotional climate in these groups are closest to improvised music or a shared group painting. The goal is to be surprised, to discover and to transform through shared “emergent” awareness.
A Group Imperative
It’s my experience that people want more than personal change. They long for more community, of course, but they also want to see more healthy communities, workplaces and societies: They want a better world. Group work provides a profound feeling of being a part of something bigger than oneself and, on a good day, provides a map for building better community and a better world. Learning how to be a “good” member of a group gives you skills to contribute more effectively to the intimate relationships, friendship circles, neighborhoods, and the organizations you belong to.
Working With Organizations
Organizations are groups of people coming together for a common task or purpose, and are vulnerable to all the challenges of group life. I am passionately committed to helping work groups and organizations become stronger, to be better able to reach their goals by working through and becoming aware of the phases of group development. Work places are up against the formidable task of managing issues of authority and leadership under the pressure of deadlines, budgets and an increasingly difficult and complex social and economic environment. The systems map and tools that work for therapy contexts are especially helpful to work groups as well.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll be encouraged to look further into some of the options for growth and development that I offer.