There is a kind of synergy in the process. As one person in the group works through and releases painful feelings and attitudes, others in the group with similar issues can experience release as well. One person's breakthrough can inspire hope in another. The presence of a peaceful heart in one who may have live with illness longer than another can be the catalyst that leads the other to healing their fear. As the group develops and progresses, a sense of joining, of connection, develops between members as a result of their own giving and receiving.
Unconditional love occurs.
Programs such as the one described above have generally been ignored by mainstream medicine, and at times have been ostracized for their use of peer support or for integrating a spiritual perspective in a psycho-social approach. But that is beginning to change as our perspective changes to a view of illness and dying as a deeply spiritual event which medical care needs to acknowledge and honor.