All Things Group Therapy
An interview with Katie K. May, of Become a Group Guru, about creating effective therapy groups. Curt and Katie talk with Katie May about the clinical elements of group creation as well as the business elements that support effective groups. We look at screening, developing the group container, and curriculum considerations.
It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.
Interview with Katie K. May, LPC, The Group Guru
Katie K. May is a licensed therapist and online course creator. She helps therapists market and fill groups and online group programs so that they can scale their impact and increase their income, without adding more hours in the office. To learn more and gain access to free trainings and resources to generate new clients like magic, visit www.becomeagroupguru.com
In this episode we talk about:
- Building and running therapy groups
- Why therapists wait too long to build their therapy groups
- The challenge of knowing when to actually start a group
- Language to use in marketing a group you’ve not started
- The different types of groups you can provide
- The importance of aligning your client and your curriculum
- How to create your own curriculum
- The group container that is built
- The anxiety that many therapists face when looking to develop a group
- How group therapy can align with treatment goals
- How to talk with your individual therapy clients to move into group
- Overcoming imposter syndrome when moving into providing group therapy
- Innovative ways to start to develop group norms, goals, and cohesion
- The skills we have from other elements of being a therapist that we can use within group
- Different activity ideas that support group members talking to each other
- Screening criteria for inclusion and exclusion
- How to navigate clients who may not be appropriate for group, or may show up differently in the group versus how they show up for initial screening
- Navigating to online group therapy during the pandemic
- Consciously talking about how to be together online
- Looking at the logistics of telehealth groups (i.e., platforms that work for groups)
- How to start a group – clarity on who the group is for, what group members are experiencing, and what outcomes are you offering
- Providing group to your individual clients
- How to assess interest for group
- Different ways to learn about doing group and the power of learning by doing
