There is huge therapeutic power and potential in group work.   Groups provide a natural laboratory that offers the opportunity for participants to engage in honest self-exploration, to notice that they are more alike than different, to experience a felt sense that they are not alone and that there is hope for healing what holds them back.

At Metta Emergence our Focus Groups have therapeutic and educational aims.  Our group framework takes into consideration the thinking, feeling and behaving dimensions of human experience.  Our integrated framework draws from many theories and uses a variety of techniques that flow from those different theoretical models.   Some groups are more process-oriented and others more Psychoeducational.  In process-oriented groups, the interpersonal experience between the members of the group is a major focus.  Psychoeducational groups are more focused on education on certain topics, sharing information and teaching skills.  In Psychoeducational groups, the benefits of the interpersonal experiences are still a healing factor even if not the major focus.

Many of the difficulties that bring clients to counselling are interpersonal in nature and involve some level of difficulty in forming or maintaining healthy relationships.  People often struggle with how to live well or peacefully with the important people in their lives, with feeling a sense of belonging, acceptance, and connection with others.  Our human struggles are universal even though our life circumstances can be quite different.

Each group will have a specific focus, yet all groups share the following goals.

We endeavor to support the participants:

1. to establish a personal goal
2. to identify perceptions, attitudes, behaviours, and habits that may be unhelpful in achieving their goal
3. to make an honest self-assessment and determine specific ways they can change their patterns of thinking, feeling or behaving
4. to develop more constructive positive attitudes, adaptive ways, and healthier interpersonal skills
5. to use those new skills in their relationships and life

The broad purpose of a therapeutic learning group is to increase people’s understanding of themselves and others, help them clarify the changes they most want to make in their lives, and give them some of the tools necessary to make these changes.  Being in a trusting, safe and accepting group environment, participants have the opportunity to interact with others with similar issues, engage in creative learning, and gain new insights from both the therapist and the other members.