Self-awareness Encounter Groups
The self-awareness encounter group refers to regular meetings of a group of people, i.e. group sessions, with the presence of a specialist facilitator to increase self-awareness, social sensitivity and bring about change in unwanted behaviours through interpersonal confrontation, self-disclosure and intense emotional expression. This also has the secondary benefit of improving communication skills and social confidence.
At the centre, GIA TIN ITHAKI, we follow Carl Roger’s person-centred philosophy in self-awareness groups. The coordinator encourages participants to focus on “the here and now”, i.e. on how they experience the interactions within the group at a given moment and on how they process emotions that have been evoked during the group session.
The role of the person-centred coordinator within the group is to create an atmosphere of acceptance and empathy, in which the members of the group are assisted and encouraged to discover their personal inner powers, to grow, and to evolve spiritually; as well as to be guided to self-actualization.
Personal testimonies of people who participated in encounter groups at our centre:
“I had the pleasure to participate in self-awareness groups at the centre ‘Gia Tin Ithaki’, for two consecutive years. I can’t describe the joy I felt when the scheduled group meeting day arrived. You can’t believe the revelation during the one and a half hour of such a meeting! You never know what will come out of those moments or the conclusions that will be reached during the sessions. What I know for sure is that this experience is rewarding and unforgettable. I personally didn’t miss a single meeting.”
“I usually leave excited from these group meetings, because of both what I heard but also what I myself revealed in the group, especially because I didn’t expect to be able to share it. I feel the members of the group like a warm and understanding family connected together with the aid of our valuable facilitator. Every single time, I look forward to listen to everyone with great interest and also express myself to them. I feel like I have people who are by my side that both understand and show empathy.”
“Although I am an introverted person who safeguards his personal feelings, I have found that the self-awareness group provides a sense of great relief and security. It makes me want to magically open up and to listen to the other members of the group who share their own hopes and concerns.”
The fan-souvenir, at the closure of a self-awareness encounter group at our centre.