The impact on the patient’s body through the psyche is one of the important areas of treatment of narcological patients. And this is not accidental. After all, the cause of drug addiction is mainly considered to be the factors underlying a person’s personality and character. Such people’s values and principles become secondary and are replaced by a feeling of sweetness from drug use. The case study presents a difficult case, in which parents cannot fight their drug addiction. However, they do not want to abandon their children and are ready to do everything possible to be their guardians again. Therefore, in this case it is necessary to apply the method of group therapy Life Skills Day.
Group psychotherapy is a method in psychotherapy that consists in using for therapeutic purposes the whole set of interactions and relationships that arise between participants in a group, including a psychotherapist. Group psychotherapy is a specific method that differs from individual therapy in that when using it, the main instrument of influence is a group of participants (Schwartze et al., 2019). Group psychotherapy considers the patient more precisely in the socio-psychological plan, in the context of his relationships and communications with other people, thereby pushing the sides of the psychotherapeutic process, focusing on his intrapersonal problems.
The difference between individual and group psychotherapy is that individual psychotherapy is more focused and focuses on the historical (genetic) aspect of the patient’s personality, but takes into account the real situation of interaction. Group psychotherapy is more on interpersonal aspects, but also addresses the historical plan of the patient’s personality. In other words, group psychotherapy reveals the intrapersonal problems of the patient mainly based on an analysis of how it is presented and revealed in the process of interpersonal interaction of the patient. Therefore, in the case of Jackie and John, support from the outside is needed since it is very difficult to cope with this problem on their own. As a solution to the problem, there may be explanations that Jackie and John cannot fully take care of their children while under the influence of drug addiction. Therefore, group psychotherapy will help them realize this. However, with a positive result and a complete rejection of drugs, parents will regain custody of their children in the future.
In the described case, there are two problems that Jackie and John will face. For these problems, it is important to identify specific steps to solve them. With drug addiction, social phobia often occurs. A person avoids people, is afraid to open his feelings to anyone and in every way refuses to spend time in large companies. The reason for social phobia is an irrational fear of negative evaluation by others. A person does not stop being afraid, even if he understands that there are no objective reasons. With social phobia, important areas of life suffer from fear: work and personal relationships. Slight anxiety before a presentation or performance on stage is normal. However, with social phobia, uncontrollable fear may appear weeks before the performance or be so strong that a person loses the ability to speak and act adequately. Important steps to solve this problem are to introduce breathing exercises that will help to cope with anxiety. Moreover, it is necessary to combat negative attitudes, thus, it is dealt with directly by group or individually.
The main problem is drug addiction and, as a result, isolation from the world. Customers may encounter several obstacles. For example, not all topics are suitable for a group format. Such as shame, physical violence is quite difficult to present to a group and work with it in front of everyone. Moreover, not all requests that a person comes with will be satisfied. Therefore, it is desirable to undergo individual therapy in parallel with the group so that what surfaced on the group was brought to their therapist. This can apply to any therapy session, but group therapy can sometimes be more prone to attendance issues, making it difficult to change schedules. Alternatively, you need to join another group for a week or wait until the next one. For example, a person with social anxiety may feel pressure and increased tension in such an environment, even if it is designed to create a comfortable zone without condemnation.
In the case study, obstacles such as closeness from society and unwillingness to undergo therapy may arise. It is necessary to start with individual classes where the therapist explains the importance of practice and the first step to solve these problems. Moreover, it is necessary to touch on the topic of children and make it clear that without overcoming drug addiction, it will be impossible to take care of children.
By way of conclusion, the paper describes how Life Skills Day Three can help in a case study. Therefore, group psychotherapy can have a positive effect in the case of drug addiction. The paper identifies two main problems that Jackie and John will face. First of all, it is important to overcome social phobia because it is important to participate in group psychotherapy. Next, it is necessary to cope with addiction since it depends on whether they will take care of their children again.
References
D. Schwartze, S. Barkowski, B. Strauss, C. Knaevelsrud & J. Rosendahl (2019) Efficacy of group psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, Psychotherapy Research, 29:4, 415-431, DOI: 10.1080/10503307.2017.1405168