International Journal of Group Psychotherapy最新文献

The novel SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has hastened the adoption of virtual services, including telepsychology, to maintain services for clients with mental health concerns. While mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for relapse prevention for many psychiatric disorders has been effectively adapted into an internet-delivered platform, there is little guidance provided in the literature on effective implementation of virtual group MBCT. This brief report provides guidelines for adapting group MBCT to synchronous virtual delivery via videoconference. Practical recommendations to overcome challenges associated with virtual delivery of group therapy for future clinicians and practitioners are also described. Such recommendations are based on the delivery of two synchronous online MBCT groups in an outpatient mental health clinic at a metropolitan Western Canadian public health center.

The present study investigated the treatment effects of focused short-term group analytic psychotherapy and examined whether outcomes were predicted by the client's psychological mindedness and personality structure as measured by the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis (OPD). Treatment foci were formulated according to the OPD for 66 student counseling clients across nine groups. Two observers independently rated client psychological mindedness and personality structure. The pre-post Cohen's d effect sizes were large on the Global Severity Index (GSI) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-64) and moderate on the Social Adjustment Scale Self Report, including all 66 clients starting treatment. Psychological mindedness significantly predicted two outcomes (GSI, IIP), and personality structure predicted one outcome (GSI). These measures could be helpful when selecting clients for short-term group analytic psychotherapy. We discuss study limitations and implications for future research and practice.

We examined change in defensive functioning following group psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy (GPIP) for binge-eating disorder (BED) compared to a waitlist control. We hypothesized that defensive functioning will improve to a greater extent at posttreatment for those in GPIP compared with those in a waitlist control condition. Participants were women with BED assigned to GPIP (n = 131) or a waitlist control (n = 44) condition in a quasi-experimental design. Those who received GPIP had significantly greater improvements in defensive functioning from pretreatment to six months posttreatment compared to the control group. GPIP may be effective for improving defensive functioning in individuals with BED. A randomized controlled trial is needed to confirm that GPIP is efficacious for addressing defensive functioning among women with BED.

The purpose of this case study was to (1) examine the effect of experiential training groups on empathy and professional disposition levels of counselor trainees and (2) to understand their experiences and perceptions regarding experiential groups. Participants were 62 Turkish undergraduate counselor trainees enrolled in a group counseling course. Trainees participated in both a didactic group counseling course and an experiential group. The quantitative results of the study indicated that trainees experienced an increase in empathy and professional disposition levels pre-post. The qualitative analysis yielded three major categories: (a) member roles, (b) emotional experiences, and (c) contributions. The findings of this study highlight the importance of experiential training groups in counselor education.

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is a new ongoing, long-term mass trauma event occurring simultaneously with overwhelming sociopolitical stressors. We propose an integrative, psychodynamic, systems-oriented, interpersonal/relational trauma group model to address the multiple losses, heightened anxieties, and complicated grief that have resulted from the pandemic, as well as various forms of interpersonal abuse associated with racist and oppressive systems. These manifest as dissociation and unconscious enactments in small and large psychotherapy groups. We examine the role and responsibilities of the group leader in working therapeutically with these phenomena. Case examples for large and small psychotherapy groups are provided.