“A trap is needed to catch hares. Having caught a hare, they forget about the trap. Words are needed to catch thoughts: when the thought is caught, the words are forgotten. How can I find a person who has forgotten about words - and talk to him!” // Zhuang - Zi If you feel that something is not going well in your relationships with significant people or experience discomfort when communicating with others, perhaps it’s time to change something. Often people, passionately wanting change, are afraid of it. Including those that can happen to them thanks to psychotherapy. However, psychotherapy cannot be said to change your life without your knowledge. The goal of therapy is to help a person see the many possibilities and allow himself to take advantage of these opportunities. Starting psychotherapy is not always easy. Where to start? How to find a good specialist, what to tell him and what to do in the process of psychotherapy? Which direction to choose and what format? There are more questions than answers. The purpose of this article is to tell more about what the Gestalt approach is in working with a group. A little history Aristotle called man a “social animal” and considered his need to establish contacts with his own kind as a source of strength. Scientific research into the influence of a group on a person began in 1895, when the French social psychologist Gustav Le Bon introduced the concept of “group consciousness.” The English psychologist William McDougall published his work “Group Consciousness” in 1920, in which he came to similar conclusions: people in groups behave differently. So, both G. Le Bon and W. McDougall, studying the influence of groups on the behavior of its members, identified a number of important phenomena, namely: the ability of a group to influence people’s behavior; the presence of the phenomenon of “contagion,” i.e., the appearance of identical feelings among group members; as well as the importance of group organization, reaching a certain agreement among group members regarding its main tasks. Joseph Pratt, an internal medicine specialist from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, was one of the first to use a group approach in treating clients. Therefore, it is he who is considered by many to be the founding father of group psychotherapy. However, Ya.L. is considered the founder of group psychotherapy. Moreno, he also owns the term “group psychotherapy”. In 1931, J. Moreno founded the first professional magazine, Impromptu, which was later renamed Group Psychotherapy. The work of Kurt Lewin, especially his “field theory,” had an undoubted influence on the study of small psychocorrectional groups. Seventy years ago he said that “it is easier to change individuals in a group than to change each of them individually.” Definition There are many definitions of the concept of group psychotherapy. J. Moreno (1932) defines group psychotherapy as the treatment of people in groups. S. Kratochvil (1978) believes that group psychotherapy is a method in which group dynamics are used for therapeutic purposes, i.e. relationships and interactions of group members, both with the psychotherapist and among themselves. I prefer this definition: “Group psychotherapy is a form of psychotherapy in which a specially created group of people regularly meets under the guidance of a psychotherapist to achieve the following goals: resolving internal conflicts, emotional, behavioral and interpersonal problems of participants, relieving tension.” Tasks of a psychotherapeutic group Tasks of group therapy may be:• resolving internal conflicts of participants;• relieving emotional and mental stress;• getting rid of fears and anxiety;• developing skills and abilities of emotional response and adaptive behavior;• establishing effective interpersonal interaction; Gestalt approach in working with a group I work within the framework Gestalt approach, and almost any technique in Gestalt therapy can be considered as a special perception of the broad injunction: “Perceive yourself as the author of your actions, be aware of yourself in the actualcontact with reality" (N. Lebedeva, E. Ivanova "Journey to Gestalt. Theory and Practice"). Gestalt therapy and the Gestalt approach help people become aware of the mechanisms that push them to repeat habitual patterns of behavior; gain an internal locus of control and develop the ability to take responsibility for your thoughts, experiences, words and deeds, for your own lifestyle. What happens if you open 20-30 different applications on your home computer? It begins to “freeze”, work less efficiently, and in the future it may even turn off completely. If there are things in our life that we do not live through to the end, we do not allow them to be completed, the unconscious begins to “clog”, forcing us to return to the past and play out unfinished situations. What's wrong with incomplete processes? They don't allow you to move forward. Having not received closure once, you return to similar situations again and again, acting out past actions with other (most often unwitting) participants. In general, you walk in a vicious circle. Outdated patterns of behavior, unexpressed feelings, habitual patterns by which we build our lives prevent us from developing. They prevent you from learning new ways of living. They interfere with joy. Gestalt therapy pays close attention to how a person feels, lives, breathes - in the present moment. And, starting from today, it helps to do something differently. All over the world, psychological gestalt groups have become firmly established in the lives of businessmen and housewives, athletes and disabled people, difficult teenagers and students, married couples and confirmed bachelors. In them, people learn to listen and understand each other, to show and accept empathy. Here they get to know themselves from new sides, experience unusual experiences, and experience exciting feelings. In a word, they regain their original integrity, assemble themselves from the scattered pieces into which their personality was fragmented. Rules for working in a therapeutic group In case of difficulties in playing out new behavior options, the participant will receive support from the group psychotherapist and other members of the group. This format of group interaction is safe, since group psychotherapy adheres to the rules established at the very beginning of work. Here are some of them: 1. All statements take the form of an “I-message” (everyone speaks about himself and from himself, but in no case “you”);2. The group has a “Stop” rule. This rule is in effect so that the participant can share the information or thoughts or problems that he deems necessary, and not share what he is not ready for at the moment. Each participant has the right to stop the discussion of his question at any time;3. Privacy Rule. Maintaining the confidentiality of what others say or do until the group comes to an agreement to deal with certain information in the group in some other way;4. Prohibition of physical violence;5. Visit. Group members take responsibility for attending all group sessions and not being late. Missing classes negatively affects the work of the group. In case of impossibility to attend (for example, illness) or to arrive on time, participants inform about this in advance;6. The “Here and Now” rule. Priority is given to the experience “here and now”, participants share feelings, thoughts, ideas related to the current moment;7. Openness. Participants take responsibility for being present in the group with the maximum degree of openness that is possible at the moment. But even in the case of passive participation in group therapy, the client always receives help by observing the actions of other participants and resolving their problems; Individual psychotherapy or psychotherapeutic group? Resolving problems with the help of a professional psychotherapist in group therapy differs from individual psychotherapy, in which communication occurs one-on-one -a-tete between client and psychotherapist. The benefits of individual psychotherapy are:depth of problem solving. In group therapy, there is an opportunity to explore, discuss, analyze, live and find joint collective solutions. At the same time, the group will support you and will not allow you to be left alone with your experiences and problems, thereby facilitating progress in resolving problems and life difficulties. Each of us is unique, but practice shows that there is not a single thought, not a single action or deed that would be completely alien and inaccessible to other people. On the contrary, many people have very similar problems. The group therapy format allows people who have difficulties in communicating and building relationships not only to understand the destructive mechanisms of reaction and behavior, but also to learn new ways of direct communication in a psychotherapeutic group, receiving feedback both from the psychotherapist and from each group member. Advantages of groups Since my article is aimed at revealing the concept of “group therapy,” I will draw your attention to the advantages of this method: • Strong influences. Both support and frustration are significantly greater in a group than in individual counseling. If only a psychologist points out to you something that is difficult to accept, you can simply brush it off. It is much more difficult to do this if 8 out of 10 people point it out to you. Likewise, acceptance from a large number of people is a huge resource and the strongest support. • Direct observations. The group is a “small life”. By performing exercises and interacting in a group, a person somehow acts out in miniature his usual behavior, which is characteristic of him in life. You can always explore it directly. This is difficult in individual therapy. • Feedback. A group member can find out how other group members feel when he does something. In ordinary life, a person cannot trust such answers - there is great social pressure, which will not allow some people to answer honestly. It is easier to get an honest answer in a group. • Experiments. A person can try new ways of behavior right here and study the reaction to them. Moreover, this happens in a safe and controlled environment. Comfortable. • Experience exchange. Very important part. If a group member talks about an exciting situation or experience, other participants, in addition to feedback, can share their life experiences. The most obvious advantage besides “ready-made solutions” is that a person understands that he is not alone, that others also face similar difficulties and overcome them. Here they are, sitting alive. So it's not fatal. • Price. The cost of group therapy is significantly lower than individual therapy with comparable effectiveness. How the group works Classes are held in the form of training group work and involve: 1. Schering. From English to share - to share, divide. At the beginning of the group, each participant shares his condition, tells what he came with and what he expects from today’s meeting;2. Exercises. The group conducts various exercises with which you can learn a lot of interesting things about yourself and other group members; 3. Personal session. An individual session is the work of the therapist and the client on his stated topic in the center of the circle. During the lesson, several participants can be clients in the session;4. Discussion of problems. Each participant can ask to discuss his problem and receive feedback from other participants;5. Final sharing. At the end of the group, each participant talks about what he took away from today’s group meeting, shares his experiences and what thoughts and feelings he takes with him; Group myths• in a group you need to lay out everything about yourself, even if you don’t want to;• in a group you need to behave nicely and not say anything that could offend others;• a group is a place where people are forced to be friends and learn “friendly rituals” with them;• a group is a place where you need to talk about your life situations, and the leader (or other participants) will answer questions,