Group Therapy at Queen Mary

How does the group work?

The Therapy Group here at QMUL ACS is run as a 'slow open' group which means members can join throughout the academic year. Once the group has begun, the members continue to meet weekly at the same time and place until the end of the academic year (with some breaks over the holiday periods). Although students may occasionally leave the group and new students may join, the aim is for the membership of the group to stay the same from week to week.

The groups comprise up to 8 students plus the therapist who is conducting the group. Each session lasts 90 minutes and group members commit to attending all sessions.

What is group therapy? 

The group is a confidential space for all group members to explore their issues together and support each other. As in individual counselling, you can talk about whatever is going on for you, your feelings, experiences and your difficulties. The big difference is that, in the group, you will be sharing this with other students, who are also making a commitment to use the group to address their difficulties. As part of this process, you will both receive support from other group members and, in turn, give support back to them, with the help of the therapist.

Who can benefit from group therapy?  

Many of the difficulties we struggle with have their source in problematic relationships we have had in the past. Despite our best efforts to make our own lives, these relationships contribute strongly to how we think about ourselves and relate with others. In turn, this can make it difficult for us to make the changes we would like to in our lives. In a therapy group you have the opportunity to explore and reflect on how you relate to yourself and others; through shared reflections, shared understandings and communication – all experienced within the supportive environment of the group. Members can thus discover new and more creative ways of thinking, feeling, behaving and relating. In short, together, group members construct a space in which they get a chance to creatively experiment with new ways of being and living.

How do I join a group? 

When you complete a self-referral form for wellbeing support, via AskQM, you can let us know if you are interested in group therapy - all students will first meet with an individual team member to understand more about their situation, as part of this meeting you can discuss the group as an option and ask the team member any questions you may have. Also, during individual sessions at ACS, if a team member thinks a group may be helpful for you, they may raise this and discuss it with you. If you both feel that finding out more about the group may be helpful, you would then meet with Ben, the therapist who runs the group. You would have a conversation with Ben to help decide whether group therapy would be a good fit for you and, if so, to begin the process of joining a group.

Frankie: please then keep the existing ‘Testimonials from previous group members’ section underneath the above text. Thanks!