You Are Not Alone: How Group Therapy Heals Shame

Shame can feel unbearable—like a secret weight we carry alone. For those with OCD, it often makes symptoms worse and keeps people from getting the help they deserve, as supported by recent research. This is why shame reduction is such a crucial component of the process of healing with OCD and anxiety.

In my experience as a specialist in OCD and anxiety disorders, participation in group therapy has been the single best intervention for shame reduction.

As both an individual and group therapist, I have seen change occur in clients who attend group sessions that would not have been achieved otherwise. Here are some reasons why:

Validation

As much as your individual therapist assures you that your thoughts and feelings are perfectly normal, it can be hard to believe.

When we enter into group settings and hear others share experiences similar to ours, suddenly our consistent thought of “am I the only person like this?” begins to dissipate.

That type of validation reminds us that we are not alone in our struggle and decreases feelings of shame around being different or alone in our experiences.

Support 

OCD can be such an isolating experience, and it is common to feel like the people in your life who do not suffer from OCD “just don’t get it.”

Being encouraged by others who are on a similar path and have similar symptoms allows us to truly believe that we are capable.

It is not a guarantee that other group members will have the same exact OCD theme as you, or have shared in thinking your exact same thoughts, but they do know how unbearable the weight of an obsession can feel, and how painstaking it is to resist the urge to compulse. They can also provide tips and tricks for how they have managed taboo thoughts and seemingly impossible exposures.

Feeling like you have a community that is rooting for you, and is invested in your success plays a key part in managing OCD symptoms and can lead to feeling more relief, faster.

Experience 

In individual sessions, so many clients struggling with OCD ask some version of: “what does it look like to live with these symptoms?”

Group therapy provides a variety of answers to that question. In a group setting, we have the unique ability to witness people from various backgrounds, at various points of their life, live with OCD.  We get a peek into how others manage symptoms while at work, within their family systems, and during stressful/happy/painful transitions. Group therapy provides us with real-life examples of people who are not just living—but thriving—with OCD.

Beyond the benefits of shame reduction, researchers have found that group therapy for OCD is equally effective to individual therapy in reducing stress caused by symptoms of OCD over the long term.

-Madelaine Davidson