Group Therapy

Practitioners

The American Group Psychotherapy Association regulates the practice of group psychotherapy. Psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, social workers, and psychiatric nurses may conduct group therapy as part of their regular practices. Activity therapists may also do extensive group work with psychiatric patients, but most of the creative and recreational activities, although therapeutic, do not meet the criteria for group therapy. Self-help groups, even though they may be professionally facilitated at times, are also excluded from the definition of group therapy.

Types of Groups

The group format can be open to changes in membership or closed, meaning maintaining the same membership for all sessions. Generally, closed groups also have a set number of sessions, allowing for the development of intense dynamics among members. A typical closed group has eight members and meets for eight sessions. Open groups are usually ongoing, with no limit to the number of sessions that any one member can attend. Due to the fluid membership of open groups, trust levels may fluctuate, and members may be reticent to self-disclose as new members join the group.

Group Process

The first step in the process of group therapy is client selection. Therapists may select group members from their own individual cases. Conjoint therapy occurs when group members are receiving individual therapy from a therapist other than the group therapist, and is most successful when the therapists can freely communicate with each other. Homogenous groups serve a specific population, such as men, women, adolescents, or veterans. Heterogeneous groups are demographically diverse, but often address an issue that group members share, such as depression, anxiety, addiction, grief, or adjustment.

A group therapy session usually meets for 90 minutes. Group process refers to how the group and therapist interact. Task groups carry out goal-driven activities assigned by the therapist and process their experiences when the task is complete. Psychoeducational groups focus on a single factor and begin with the therapist presenting information to the group. After the educational presentation, the therapist facilitates a discussion pertinent to the subject of the presentation. Traditional group therapy, however, has a more open format. The therapist guides the interaction of the group members, whose issues often emerge in the course of the session.

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