Why Group Therapy Works and How to Do It: A Guide for Health and Social Care Professionals

Cover
Endorsements
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
About the authors
List of figures
Foreword by Dr Earl Hopper
1. Introduction
	Why a book on group therapy?
2. The significance of the group
	The human flock on the savannah
	Lone wolves live dangerously
	The family – our first group
	The significance of attachment
	Social learning
	The group provides experiences of relationships
	Summary
3. What is a group – really?
	The group emerges when we need others
	A social-psychology perspective
	Adjustment and over-adjustment
	Obedience and destructivity
	The group as a whole
	Summary
4. The group as a learning and healing environment
	The history of group therapy
	The flourishing years of group therapy
	Does group therapy work?
	Effectiveness of different patient groups
	Long-term group therapy
	What is the significance of the group dynamic?
	Can group therapy cause harm?
	Active therapeutic factors in group therapy
	Three therapeutically effective common factors in group therapy
		Support
		Learning
		Action
	The therapeutic alliance
	Group-specific factors
	Learning from emotional experiences in the group setting
	The group provides an opportunity to test new ways of being with others
	Sharing experiences and feelings
	Constructive and destructive forms of communication
	“Noise” in the communication
	Dialogue and flow
	Summary
5. Group therapy
	Time-limited group therapy
	Therapy focus
	Therapeutic group processes
	The group as an organism
	The interplay among the group members as a whole
	The group matrix
	Structure provides safety for the group
	Authority, power, and control
	For whom are different group models suitable?
	Resources and dominant concerns
	Different kinds of groups for different persons
	Summary
6. Starting a therapy group
	The organizational framework and system
	Organizational prerequisites
	Rules and boundaries
		Group size
		Time and space
		Attendance and punctuality
		Duty of confidentiality
	Conversations on group format, boundaries, and rules
	Practical preparations and arrangements
	The group members
	Who is suitable for group therapy?
	Who is not suitable for group therapy?
	Preparatory interviews
	Information on group therapy
	Choosing to participate in group therapy
	The importance of preparatory interviews
	Planning the evaluation
	Questionnaires
	Summary
7. Conducting a therapy group
	The leadership role
	The leadership function
	Two-leader groups
	Cooperation between two group leaders
	The group leader’s tasks
	Therapeutic alliances
	The group leader’s attitude
	Interventions and group leaders
	To whom should group leaders direct their interventions?
	When should group leaders intervene?
	Examples of intervention
	When should group leaders not intervene?
	Summary
8. Engagement and differentiation
	The four stages of group development
	Engagement
		The group’s purpose and goals in the engagement stage
		The group’s therapeutic alliance in the engagement stage
		The group leader’s role in the engagement stage
	The engagement stage – in short
	Summary of the engagement stage
	Differentiation
		The group’s purpose and goals in the differentiation stage
		The group’s therapeutic alliance in the differentiation stage
		The group leader’s role in the differentiation stage
	Summary of the differentiation stage
9. Interpersonal work and termination
	Interpersonal
		The group’s purpose and goals in the interpersonal work stage
		The group’s therapeutic alliance in the interpersonal work stage
		The group leader’s role in the interpersonal work stage
	Summary of the interpersonal work stage
	Termination
		The group’s purpose and goals in the termination stage
		The group’s therapeutic alliance in the termination stage
		The group leader’s role in the termination stage
	Summary of the termination stage
10. Slow-open groups
	Advantages of the slow-open group
	Boundaries, time limitations, and rules
	Starting and ending participation in a slow-open group
	The role of group leaders in slow-open groups
	Summary of slow-open group therapy
11. Group therapy with pre-planned content structure
	People interact and develop in groups
	Structure and processes in pre-planned group therapy
	The CBT-oriented group leader’s contributions to group processes
	The stages in a CBT group
		Pre-group issues: formation of the group
		Initial stage: orientation and exploration (cf. engagement stage)
		Transition stage: dealing with resistance (cf. differentiation stage)
		Working stage: cohesion and productivity (cf. interpersonal stage)
		Final stage: consolidation and termination (cf. termination stage)
	Post-group issues: follow-up and evaluation
	The CBT group as a learning environment
	Psycho-educational groups
	Knowledge, reflection, and exchange
	Types of psycho-educational groups
	Preparations for psycho-educational groups
	Content, arrangements, and structure
		First group meeting
		Subsequent group meetings and follow-up on previous meetings
		Final group meeting
	The group leader roles in psycho-educational groups
		The three roles: teacher, manager, and counsellor
	Communication in a psycho-educational group
	Recommendations for psycho-educational group leaders
	Balancing the psycho-educational group leader roles
	Dual group leadership
	Outside experts
	Summary
12. Focused group therapy (FGT)
	Self-confidence and self-esteem in life experiences
	The FGT framework and guidelines
		The FGT framework
		The FGT guidelines
	Who is well suited for FGT?
		Examples of conditions and situations suitable for FGT
	Group member exclusion criteria for FGT
	Preparatory interviews in FGT
	The focus of FGT
	The group focus in FGT
	The individual focus in FGT
		Formulating the individual focus in the preparatory interviews
		The Basch competence model in the individual focus
	Categories of FGT focus expressions
	Examples of FGT focus expressions
		Identify needs
		Show vulnerability
		Express negative feelings
		Be assertive
		Define and defend boundaries
		Manage performance anxiety
		Take time for reflection
	Three stages in FGT
	The engagement stage in FGT
		The first session
	The interaction stage in FGT
	The termination stage in FGT
		Suggestions for group leader interventions in the termination stage
	Summary
13. Concluding remarks
	The essence of focused group therapy
	Learning to be a group leader
	Recommendations for new group leaders
	Group therapy networks
References
Index