When members leave the intimacy of their group and return to the "real world," they may feel disappointed and discouraged. Their experience has given them the opportunity to dispense with social masks, to become more authentic, to see the lies and pretenses of others more clearly. But the vast majority of people outside the group have not learned these things and _do_ live behind masks they are not even conscious of. When you gain from a learning experience a perspective you can share with comparatively few people, you're likely to feel discontented and alienated. You should also be aware that some of the changes that occur in group therapy simply may not last very long after the group stops meeting because the emotional and moral support offered by the group are no longer there. Or, group therapy may make you aware for the first time of personal problems you had ignored or evaded, leaving you hanging when the group terminates. So group therapy may bring about a need to solve problems that, before the group experience, you didn't even {192} know you had. These problems may then motivate you to enter individual therapy. Finally, if you enter group therapy but your spouse does not, your experience could bring marital tensions into the open, leaving your spouse at a disadvantage. Your spouse, who is unfamiliar with what transpired during your group sessions, may react defensively and without empathy to your desire to talk about your feelings. GROUP TECHNIQUES The techniques discussed below are commonly used in group therapy. _Content Analysis_ A member of the group describes a problem he or she is having, and the therapist and other members make problem-solving suggestions. Their focus may be on why the person does not want to solve the problem or on how the person brought the problem on and maintains it. _Group Process_ After a series of interactions, comments, suggestions and personal observations by group members, the therapist will ask the group to stand back and look at the pattern of their communication. The group may become aware of the way one member is consistently overlooked and is not given a fair share of attention because of shyness or because another more forceful member dominates the group's attention. _Models_ One member can work on personal problems in group therapy by noting how another member goes about handling a similar problem and then trying to learn from that example. _Analysis of Nonverbals_