Psychiatrist David Spiegel, MD, from Stanford University, believes
that to be fully human, people need authentic relationships.
As a young psychiatrist he
had the opportunity to work
with psychotherapist Irvin
Yalom, MD, who was testing
this idea.
Together they held weekly
support groups for seriously
ill women, all of whom had
metastatic breast cancer;
survival expectations ranged
from a few months to a few
years.
In the study, these groups of
8 to 10 women met weekly.
They talked about their fears, their loneliness, and their anger...
along with their desires and ways of coping with the disease.
They soon learned a fundamental lesson of life... Everyone is
wounded to one degree or another, and is ashamed of it.
But at this point in their lives, there was nothing left to hide. So they
shared their innermost thoughts and fears with one another. For
some, it was their first time experiencing such a high level of trust.
Something quite miraculous happened then. The meetings were filled
with natural laughter and camaraderie. Somehow by accepting their
own wounds, they had opened the way to positive emotions, joy, the
desire to live, and more.
For a year these women met regularly before going their own ways.
Spiegel compared the psychological state of these participants with
women (with the same diagnoses and medical treatments) who did
not participate in these group meetings.
The women who had learned — thanks to the support group — to
confront their fears, to express their inner feelings, and to experience
more authentic relationships, were less likely to experience
depression, anxiety and even physical pain. 12,13