About the Author

Susie Rotch is a psychologist and psychotherapist. She runs a busy private practice as a psychotherapist and trainer in Melbourne, Australia. Susie has a particular interest in running effective therapy and personal growth groups which can respectfully encourage change and maximize the learning opportunities for the participants.

Her interest in training has led to the establishment of the Living Skills Library, an innovative series of programs combining book and DVD that offer both professional and personal psychological skills training.

The Leadership Series

Leading Psychotherapy Groups is one of two in a series for people running groups. The other publication has no usage restrictions and offers a generic leadership course for anybody wishing to run psycho-educational and training groups. It is designed to improve the leadership skills of teachers, trainers, social workers - anybody who is the leader of a learning group regardless of the age of the participants. That program is entitled ‘Leadership - How to Get the Very Best From Your Teaching and Training Groups’. It is comprised both of text and examples on DVD. These cover a broad range of educational and training group situations

Both publications feature a systematic and easily applied structure for simplifying and enlivening the learning of group work skills. They both also encourage the growth and development of the aspiring group leader.

My view of the value of psychotherapy

‘Personal growth is the process of helping people develop an increased range of behavioral and emotional options which they have not learned to the present time, thus enabling them to cope with whatever opportunities and difficulties that arise in their lives.

Psychotherapy can be defined as the remediation of mislearned or misapplied behaviors. Both are the proper function of your group.
Often just being part of the group is therapeutic for people, especially those who have missed out on the warmth, love and support of a good family. So is having others contribute to one’s welfare by support, suggestions, the sharing of their own experiences and feedback.
For many participants this is a new and intensely pleasurable experience. Contributing to others in the group can also offer a sense of value to the giver which may have been missing before.’

My view of the process of learning

‘All the Living Skills Library programs are an invitation to take risks within a safe environment. To assess yourself as you are right now and make changes in attitudes and practices to give you options that will allow you to become not just a group therapist but the best group therapist that you can possibly become.

You are an individual before you are a leader. This program is based on the assumption that the better the individual, the better the leader. In these publications the reader is encouraged to explore self-awareness and then an awareness of group behaviors and needs.

This is leadership training from inside to outside.’