About Paranormal Group Therapy

According to one recent survey, the majority of Americans believe in the paranormal. Another survey suggests that one out of five Americans believe they have had some sort of paranormal experience. If this is true, this means that tens of millions of people in this country believe they’ve had some sort of anomalous or supernatural encounter.

And yet, most people who have had experiences may feel uncomfortable bringing this up to a mental health provider out of fear of being ridiculed or misdiagnosed. Although it is true that some mental illnesses can cause hallucinations or mania, we believe it is unethical to automatically assume that all claims of paranormal activity are a result of mental illness.

Our goal is to offer a safe and supportive space where people may feel comfortable sharing and processing their feelings with others. Every session will be facilitated by Dr. Darin Wallis and Ryan Buell.

What is Group Therapy?

Group therapy is the therapeutic practice of having one or more therapists that run a group of patients through weekly or biweekly sessions. This group will run for eight weekly sessions. Each session will run approximately 90-120 minutes.

Overview of Paranormal Group Therapy

Our group therapy is meant to allow a variety of people to come together and discuss issues and topics of interest in a therapeutic setting with therapeutic direction. For people in the paranormal community, many of the experiences from our past can be shared with others with similar experiences. Some folks will have histories with the paranormal that are dark, some might be more neutral or pleasant, some will have had to deal with these occurrences on numerous occasions, and some experiences may be taking place right now. Ryan and Dr. Darin are hopeful that we can create a space that all group members will be able to share their experiences, be supportive to other group members’ histories, and learn from one another in a therapeutic way. The ultimate goal is to be helpful to group members. Some folks will have more to say than others, but Ryan and Dr. Darin will encourage all group members to participate at whatever level is comfortable and beneficial.

Group therapy can be helpful by eliciting connection between group members’ experiences, relieving stress through the process of sharing, relieving the burden of isolation that many folks with paranormal experiences may have, and helping group members to learn from each other’s stories. If successful, there may be an option for both additional group therapies of the same topic and/or a different group subject matter. Ryan and Dr. Darin are open to a variety of areas for group therapy that have to do with the paranormal itself, as well as psychotherapy in relationship to the paranormal.

Ryan and Dr. Darin will meet with the group as a whole throughout the 8 sessions, with occasional breakout sessions (during the sessions) split between Ryan and Dr. Darin when appropriate. The group therapy may also make use of outside guest group facilitators (i.e., experts in the paranormal), but this would be discussed beforehand with the group.

Expectations and Agreements.

Group members are expected to participate at whatever level is both comfortable for the person and what would be beneficial for that person’s experience of the group.

It is okay to have different experiences over similar situations. It is expected that each person’s experiences will be honored and respected by all group members.

It is normal to have disagreement around perspectives, as long as other people’s perspectives are honored during disagreements.

Being supportive and encouraging to one another often makes for the most beneficial experience for group members. Ryan and Dr. Darin will practice this consistently.

Some group members will have a lot to say about certain matters and their experiences. It will be important for folks to understand that Ryan and Dr. Darin will be encouraging multiple perspectives during the sessions so that many group members can participate and not just a few active members.

Group members can expect some psychotherapeutic and paranormal education discussions lead by both Ryan and Dr. Darin, but the hope is to also learn from each other’s experiences. The group therapy is meant to be both supportive and a learning environment, but it is not to be mistaken as being a class.

Ryan and Dr. Darin will provide needed structure to the group sessions, although it will be quite beneficial for group members to participate in forming that structure.

Ryan and Dr. Darin will encourage a multitude of different perspectives, supporting folks from a variety of cultures, religious backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations and identities, and other backgrounds.

What Group Therapy Is NOT.

Group therapy is not meant to be a class. It is meant to be interactive and dynamic, led by professional group leaders, but not dominated by the group leaders.

Group therapy is not meant to be a place to disrespect other people’s belief systems.

Group therapy is not a place for competition between stories – all group members experiences are important and deserve attention, interest and exploration.

Group therapy is not a place to aggressively perpetuate certain positions. It will be important that all perspectives are heard, honored and respected.

Group therapy is not meant to be one person’s individual therapy session. Individual experiences will undoubtably be encouraged to be shared, but the sharing is meant to encourage other group members to disclose their own experiences and not just focus on a single person for long periods of group time.

Group therapy is not about telling each other what to do and expecting it to be done. Folks can share their perspectives, what has worked for themselves in a similar situation, encouraging others on where to find information, but instructing others on what to do in their lives is not a typical group therapy practice.

Group therapy is not for individuals that have acute distress or are actively suicidal or homicidal. Those that are actively suicidal or homicidal will need a higher level of care than what a group therapy environment would be able to provide.

Group therapy may not be a good fit for folks that have significant discomfort with groups of people. Many folks may initially be uncomfortable with a new group of strangers, but often that discomfort dissipates once group members get to know one another and share similar experiences in life.

Group therapy is not a way for Ryan or Dr. Darin to personally come to group members’ homes for an investigation or some form of a cleansing. Those kinds of services would clearly be outside of the scope of the group therapy.