I was disappointed last spring to learn that NBC had canceled Go On after only one season. Starring an older Chandler Bing and that kid from Everybody Hates Chris, the show centered on an eclectic group of people in grief therapy, and it was the first time I had seen a positive example or discussion of mental health showcased on T.V. Going through my own personal transitional phase at this time, I felt a connection to the show and to the characters, weird sitcom-y tropes though they were. Go On, sadly and ironically, was not allowed to go on after only one season. But its premise has stuck with me despite the show’s premature termination.
I had never considered the positive effects of group therapy, but after watching the show, I felt a strong desire to try it out. I was home for winter break catching up on the season, wondering if any possible groups existed for college students. It wasn’t until this past year that I discovered that Connecticut College offers group counseling — one session every weekday afternoon. Most of the groups range from five to eight students and two counselors who serve as facilitators; the meetings are generally unstructured and encourage student-run discussions.
According to a handout from Counseling Services, counselors begin with a quick check-in, but “it is the group members’ responsibility to bring any issues to the group that they feel are important…members are encouraged to give support and feedback to others, and to work with the reactions and responses that other members’ contributions bring up for them.”
Groups at Conn focus on general process support, meaning that students can discuss anything and everything that is important to them and their mental health. There is one group solely for women, which has run successfully every semester since 1999 when counselor Tina Forster joined the College’s counseling services team. To my personal dismay, an LGBTQ group has yet to start up due to a lack of participants. But according to Forster, general support groups are the ones that work best.
“Groups are a place to share, and get and give support,” said Forster. “Underneath that is the whole group process — what you can learn about yourself during the process in a safe confidential space. It’s an interesting and powerful experience.”
The success rate of these group sessions fluctuates each semester for a variety of reasons, including (but not limited to) the needs of the current student population and the timing of the sessions. My hypothesis for why more students haven’t taken advantage of group therapy focuses on possible fears and anxieties surrounding confidentiality issues, especially on smaller campuses like Conn’s.
Despite being persuaded by Matthew Perry and a counselor at Conn to give group counseling a chance, I have remained hesitant, nervous about who I may or may not know when I walk into the session. Forster legitimized my thoughts: “You can walk into the group and know someone there, which is anxiety-producing. The group has to deal with that and figure out if it’s going to work or not.”
I respect and adhere to the Honor Code and believe that many of my peers do as well, but human nature allows for mistakes and slip-ups. And so, I have yet to attend a session of group therapy. I have seriously thought about it; I signed up for a slot a few weeks ago. But the day before, I called to cancel.
Timing was the initial conflict — I forgot that I had work when the group was planning to meet. But when debating whether or not to reschedule for a group on a different afternoon, I decided against it. I was afraid. I didn’t know which of my classmates would be sitting on the couches when I walked in; I didn’t know if I wanted to open up to people I had never met — or worse, people I had met and had classes with or lived with or dined with. The smallness of the Conn community is something that I treasure and is one of the main reasons that I chose to enroll. But sometimes that smallness feels a little too small.
I know that I am not alone in this feeling.
Many higher-education institutions are implementing group therapy in addition to offering one-on-one sessions with a counselor — Forster called it a “trend.” But are students more reluctant to attend group meetings at smaller institutions, such as the NESCACs, or is this a bigger challenge of encouraging students to share and open up with peers that spans colleges and universities of all population sizes?
At least at smaller schools, “the odds are greater that you will run into roommates, exes, and classmates,” said Randy Lee, Director of Counseling Services at Trinity College.
A sense of security may be lost at smaller colleges, which may hinder students from signing up for a session. “The only time that we had a real success [with a group] was with a social skills group,” said Lee, “because the focus was non-threatening.”
Students were more willing to talk about common social anxieties with their peers. But when it comes to specific, more personal topics — like sexual assault or eating disorders — the odds may not be in favor of groups.
As Lee said, larger institutions like UConn, which have populations closer to 20,000, may have groups with 20 people as opposed to five or six. At these places, there are fewer chances that a student will run into someone that he or she knows, though of course, it’s still a possibility.
According to a mental health professional at the University of Hartford, attendance is difficult even at this bigger institution “due to a host of factors, including finding a time that works for multiple people’s schedules and selling the idea of being in a group, which can be more anxiety-provoking for some people.” Even at bigger schools, students worry about the idea of sharing with peers.
Forster assured me that she has never had any issues of confidentiality breach in any groups at Conn. “Once students are in the group, they recognize that everybody signs an agreement, that everybody is there to get support, and everybody is anxious about it,” she said. “You trust that everyone will keep things confidential.”
Three criteria on the group agreement form that students must sign when they join a group include: “to keep what is talked about in the group and who is in the group confidential,” “to attend weekly and to arrive on time,” and “to attend at least three meetings” and let the group know if you decide to stop attending.
Forster believes that the hesitation of students to attend groups lies more in the practice of sharing than in anxiety about who will be in their group. Counseling services encourages students who attend groups to try not to censor themselves, which might be easier said than done. Even if students feel comfortable with peers and counselors in their group, it might be a personality trait or internal anxiety that hinders them from fully delving into a discussion of their feelings.
Despite the initial hesitations, group counseling can offer students many benefits that one-on-one counseling sessions with a therapist may not. “In groups, you can interact with peers and don’t feel alone in the process, and get good, realistic feedback and support,” said Janet Spoltore, Director of Connecticut College’s Counseling Services. “But you can also challenge your beliefs,” by hearing other students’ perspectives.
In an article for the International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, Dr. Elliot M. Zeisel describes group therapy as “a verbal gym where you can strengthen certain emotional muscles and emerge with a better defined capacity to process your emotional life as it unfolds.” Hearing from group members “contributes to personality integration and maturation,” he continues.
The notion of relatedness is important to the success of any group. “It’s an opportunity to brainstorm with people of the same age…it’s an opportunity much different from the classroom experience,” said Margie Bowen, a psychology intern at Conn’s Counseling Services. “It’s a much more intimate, interpersonal experience. Groups can even develop friendships and support systems that last outside of group.”
That said, each group must decide how to deal with interactions outside of meetings. “The students get to decide how to handle if they run into each other outside of group,” Forster said. “Is it okay to become friends? Each group decides, and it can be different [every time].”
The characters in Go On begin to infiltrate every aspect of each other’s lives, turning into a modern-day Brady Bunch clan who get into all kinds of hijinks, probably inappropriate considering the context of their connections. But their ability to form relationships outside of group is important for both the plot of the show and the development and personal healing of the characters. Realistically, and for students on college campuses the size of Conn and Trinity, the lines between group and every interaction outside of group seem more complicated given the close and constant geographical proximity of group members.
For a true process group to work, attendance needs to be consistent. “It’s difficult to trust and really open up if you’re there one time or if the membership is changing,” Forster said. “It’s important that when people agree to be in a group, they are committed to coming every time.”
In “Emerging Trends in College Mental Health,” Dr. Ken Marsh writes, “We stand at a confluence of several forces: increasing number of students, with increasingly severe emotional problems; students and families who look increasingly to universities to provide mental health and other supportive services for their students…” Given the increased demand of mental health services at colleges and universities, an added benefit of group counseling is that it provides students with a guaranteed opportunity to meet weekly. When a handful of counselors are in high demand, students may not be able to meet them quite as regularly as they need.
Simply put, maybe the reason that more students don’t take advantage of (free!) group therapy is a lack of awareness that such services are offered. According to Forster, most people in groups are students who have already been receiving counseling services. But these opportunities are available to all students. If you have even the slightest desire or belief that group therapy could be beneficial for you, stop by the Health Center and inquire about meeting times. Go ahead, go on.
