Week 5: Group Therapy
This week was my first time observing various forms of group therapy each day. Every day I attended an “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy” group, a mindfulness and meditation group, and finally, interpersonal group therapy. After watching two other interns through this rotation, I was expecting to feel upset or emotional at some of the topics that might be discussed in the interpersonal group. While the first couple of days went alright, there was certainly some very troubling and upsetting content in the group that was tough to deal with later in the week. Although I do have a strong support system of friends and family that I can go to, I am unable to talk openly about the patients and content of the therapy of course, due to confidentiality. Luckily, I was able to find support within the program, which was very helpful. For a few days this week, I met with my internship supervisors, clinical research assistants, to talk about some of the things that came up. Naturally, the program strongly emphasizes the importance of self care, so I really appreciated them taking the time out of their busy schedules to make sure I was alright. Additionally, I was able to meet with one of the therapists facilitating the group I observed. This was so helpful because I was able to find out how she handles these difficult situations, and ask her all of the questions I had about her process to becoming a clinical psychologist. On Friday, there was an intense and scary incident with a patient. While upsetting, it was amazing to watch the various employees come together and handle the situation in a discreet and professional way, while keeping other patients calm, and also getting their individual jobs done. It made me confident about the training these people go through, and only increased the respect I have not only for these jobs, but for this program in particular.
I am so glad to hear that you have internal support to process the information and issues you encounter; that is really critical given the nature of the environment in which you work. So it sounds as though many individuals, despite their roles, are able to coalesce and work together when dealing with patient incidents and trauma; that this element of the work is very collaborative rather than hierarchical – right? It also sounds as though this collaborative work dealing with such incidents is managed/balanced with the myriad other tasks and responsibilities that your colleagues have, which likely means that to some extent their work is self-directed (as you described with your own in an earlier post). So there is really a mixture at your site. Have you had any opportunities to witness/observe individuals without formal leadership positions exhibit/demonstrate leadership in a particular situation?