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An observational scale to record aggressive behaviors, defenses, and interventions that occur during a psychotherapy group has been developed. Content and process items were included. The content items focus on the spoken material and are on a continuum of increasing group members' awareness of and responsibility for their anger. The process items are directed to underlying psychodynamic issues on a continuum from avoiding anger, to indirect and then expression of anger. Leader interventions (responses) are also included. The development of the scale, the Aggression Observation Scale for Group Psychotherapy (AOSGP), is described including pilot testing and reliability and validity findings....
Although the literature suggests that homogeneous therapy groups are useful for bipolar outpatients, little is known about the process in such groups. Using the GCQ-S and a content analysis of discussion topics, we evaluated group process during the first 31 sessions of an outpatient bipolar group. Compared with normative samples, our group scored significantly higher in the Engaged dimension and significantly lower in the Avoiding and Conflict dimensions and in the anxiety/tension scale. Furthermore, 81% of the discussion topics were related to the three group goals, and an additional 18% dealt with general group issues such as orienting new members and attendance. The results from this pilot study suggest that bipolar patients can discuss relevant issues in a homogeneous group environment that is cohesive, open, and safe....
Racial themes frequently emerge in group psychotherapy but are often unaddressed by therapists. Confusion about the relevance of race to the psychotherapeutic process, countertransferential responses, and a lack of training in how to address racial content contribute to therapists' reluctance. Approaches to addressing racial content in groups are examined. Case examples are used to demonstrate therapist characteristics and perspectives on the group process that create a climate where racial content can be explored. An exploration of the meaning of racial content provides an opportunity for deepened understanding of interpersonal relationships for patients and therapists....
Ethnicity and culture have great therapeutic import in the practice of group psychotherapy, especially given the increasing diversity of the population of North America, and this issue has not received appropriate recognition in the literature. In this paper these terms are defined, and the literature is reviewed. Ethnicity, culture, and psychopathology are discussed, focusing on treatment issues including transference, countertransference, resistance, group cohesion, group process, and multi-ethnic groups. The group therapist must be knowledgeable about ethnic and cultural issues in the lives of the group members in order to promote group cohesion and therapeutic effectiveness. The recognition and exploration of ethnic/cultural differences enhances the work of the group. Recommendations for treatment are discussed....
Based on their extensive experience working with individuals, families, groups and organizations in Greece, the authors describe therapeutic techniques for helping individuals understand and work through the acculturation process. Tasks and procedures employed at various social levels--dyads, triads, small groups of four to six members, and large groups of 18-25--are catalysts for the exploration and clarification of the ways in which old norms and roles are being modified, weakened, or distorted by cultural change, and for the redefinition of values and expectations....
Deficiencies in “basic trust” frequently undermine the efficacy of group therapy in multiracial and multicultural groups. It is necessary to distinguish trust deficits caused by individual psychopathology, societal attitudes (“cultural pathology”), or a combination of both. A typology for classifying self-disclosure problems in multicultural and multiracial groups is presented, and illustrated with case material: Mode A, “Good enough trust,” allows patient self-disclosure in multicultural groups; Mode B, Low level of cultural paranoia and high level of functional paranoia; Mode C, Culturally paranoid individual can self-disclose in culturally homogeneous group but mistrusts outsiders; Mode D, Confluent paranoid has high levels of both functional and cultural paranoia. For Modes C and D, it is crucial that experiences of bias be acknowledged and empathized with first before patients will be able to achieve good enough trust to risk self-disclosure. The ethnic composition of the group must be attended to in the placement of these patients. Hospital (inpatient) groups are especially likely to have problems with “basic trust.” The role of the leader in demonstrating empathy, tolerance, racial sensitivity, and appropriate self-disclosure is emphasized. Cultural awareness training, a personal group therapy experience for the therapist, and the use of co-therapists are recommended as ways of minimizing negative countertransference or cultural bias on the part of the leader....
The authors review the salient issues involved in therapy with culturally diverse populations. They present a framework where group therapy addresses those issues. Clinical vignettes from each of the authors serve to illustrate the power of group therapy with ethnocultural populations.
This article describes a mother-daughter experience led by a mother and daughter in which women come together to communicate, share, and overcome the barriers that impede the intimacy of their relationship. Through experiential and educational means, participants are encouraged to use the power of the group experience to break through their isolation. Overall, women leave the experience feeling more hopeful about the possibility of a closer relationship....
This paper focuses on an intensive large group experience for women that addresses issues of female identity and the cultural constructs that contribute to women's basic experience of self. It includes a discussion of self-concept and the social constructionist theory of the social, emotional, and psychological processes of the development of an individual's view of herself and the world. The author contrasts aspects of traditional group psychotherapy leadership, which tends to perpetuate society's devaluation of the feminine, with the leadership style of this workshop. The use of story and metaphor and other techniques used to achieve the workshop goals--including narrative therapy, guided imagery, movement and dance, and ritual enactment--are also discussed....
Women's developmental theory and sociocultural expectations typically link feminine identity to motherhood. This can lead to internal conflict for women who remain childless, whether by choice or by circumstance. Group psychotherapy can be useful in that it is a place where the intrapsychic and social interact. As an arena for personal change, group therapy is a place where childless women can heal the grief, shame, and guilt associated with their childlessness, and explore other ways to express femininity, creativity, and generativity. As a form of psychosocial therapy, group is a setting where both men and women can closely examine their sociocultural expectations regarding childlessness and debunk stereotypes....
This paper addresses gender-related experiences of shame, focusing on the shame-prone woman. Specifically the varied manifest behaviors, dynamics, and defenses commonly observed in shame-prone women are described. It is recommended that the addition of group therapy to individual treatment, once the client is ready, can expedite progress for these patients, as they are more able to integrate previously disowned and shamed aspects of themselves. A number of potential problems when working with these patients in group are identified and explored...
This article provides a description of a nightmare treatment model with adult war-trauma survivors which includes psychoeducation about problematic sleep, sleep hygiene and an ongoing Dreamwork group where trauma-related nightmares are assessed and processed. The therapeutic benefits of directly addressing traumatic nightmares and using a group modality are discussed. The Dreamwork group uses several methods of presentation and intervention to assist in the client's work with recurrent nightmares. These methods use group therapy combined with sandplay or writing techniques as a means of communicating, understanding and potentially changing the nightmare or dreams....
With its assumptions about the interpersonal origins of individual learning, narrative theory suggests certain leadership functions for group therapists: providing a perspective on how multiple meanings may be constructed about experience; leading the process of deconstructing individual narratives through careful questioning to distinguish persons from problems; enlisting participants in active awareness and engagement with group dynamics and group process; and enabling the co-creation of a group narrative through the development of a new “community of conversations.”...
Couples-group therapy is thought of as a helpful treatment for most couples, and as a primary treatment for married couples who have longstanding problems of a rigid and chronic nature. It is most useful for couples for whom blaming, power plays, and suppression of anger are prominent modes of interaction. Couples-group therapy is helpful to these couples because the group is a microcosm of society, provides a wide variety of coping styles, and offers observable alternatives to dysfunctional behaviors. A group dynamic also decreases the couple's sense of isolation. Issues relevant to starting a couples group--indications, contraindications, policies and balancing a group--are discussed. Clinical vignettes from ongoing open-ended couples groups are presented to illustrate the points made....
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