Group Discussions
THE POWER OF WORDS
Our group and one-to-one discussions usually start with the power of language. We discuss how negative messages we hear as children can become self fulfilling prophecies which affect us throughout our adult lives. We also highlight some of the damaging words and phrases we inadvertently use against each other which can have a detrimental effect on our self confidence and emotional stability. We usually receive these messages from family members, media advertisements and from people we encounter at work and in everyday life. We also explore the consequences of bullying in the family, in the work place, and in educational institutions.
MASKS
We explore the ‘‘masks’’ people wear in their everyday lives in order to hide their true responses and emotions. We use actual masks with labels attached to them to represent each concept and how they are used by group members and their peers. Our masks include the victim, the gob, the joker, the rescuer, the brick wall, the red fist etc. For example, a person who wears the rescuer mask may be trying to save the world in order to satisfy a subconscious need for acceptance. Or a person who wears the joker mask could be unconsciously damaging others with sarcastic humour in order to hide their own insecurities, inadequacies, or fears. During group discussions we sometimes uncover the existence of new masks. These emerge as a result of in-depth discussion and exploration of the group’s experiences.
