Group Therapy

Types of Groups

Group psychotherapy and group therapy are often used synonymously with group therapy being the colloquial and shortened version. Group therapy is also used on occasion to represent a broader category of group work. In addition, some practitioners use the terms group counseling and group psychotherapy interchangeably. However, position statements issued by the Association of Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) of the American Counseling Association (ACA) have defined the terms as two different entities with group psychotherapy being one of four distinct group types: task groups, psychoeducational groups, counseling groups, and psychotherapy groups.

Task and Counseling Group Focus and Goals

Task groups are designed to accomplish identified work goals. They include committees, task forces and social action groups, study circles and learning groups, planning and discussion groups, and other group experiences where the participants have a task to accomplish that is external to the individual members. Psychoeducational groups provide participants with information, skills, and increased awareness of some life problem and the knowledge and tools to better cope with it. The goal is to prevent various psychological problems and educational deficits by imparting, discussing, and integrating factual information.

Counseling groups are very similar to therapy groups. However, counseling groups are not concerned with the treatment of more severe behavioral and psychological disorders. The main differences between psychotherapy and counseling groups is that counseling groups are not aimed at major personality changes; they deal primarily with conscious problems and they focus on resolving specific short-term concerns.

Psychotherapy Group Focus and Goals

The psychotherapy group, more than other types of groups, is designed primarily to help individuals with chronic or acute emotional or mental disorders that produce marked distress and impairment. The group allows individual group members to reconstruct major personality dimensions and remediate in-depth psychological problems. Thus, psychotherapy groups focus upon addressing personal and interpersonal problems of living, modifying perceptual and cognitive distortions, reducing repetitive patterns of dysfunctional behavior, and promoting personal and interpersonal growth and development among participants who are experiencing severe or chronic maladjustment. Psychotherapy groups allow for the development of appropriate group norms and task elements necessary to support the intensity of the social and emotional interaction that promotes change. While conceptualized, composed, and conducted as an intervention to deal with those needing intense interpersonal work to modify major psychological dysfunctions, it can also provide attention to interpersonal problem solving and to psychoeducational information and skill acquisition as a part of the overall therapeutic group experience.

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