Psychological Therapies 605Group Therapies: Not Just for the Shy
An alternative to individual therapy, in which the client and the therapist have a pri-
vate, one-on-one session, is group therapy, in which a group of clients with similar
problems gathers together to discuss their problems under the guidance of a single
therapist (Yalom, 1995).
Types of Group Therapies
15.6 Compare and contrast different forms of group therapy.
Group therapy can be accomplished in several ways. The therapist may use either an
insight or cognitive-behavioral style, although person-centered, Gestalt, and behavior
therapies seem to work better in group settings than psychodynamic and cognitive-
behavioral therapies (Andrews, 1989).
In addition to the variations in the style of therapy, the group structure can also
vary. There may be small groups formed of related persons or other groups of unrelated
persons that meet without the benefit of a therapist. Their goal is to share their problems
and provide social and emotional support for each other.
FAMILY COUNSELING One form of group therapy is family counseling or family ther-
apy, in which all of the members of a family who are experiencing some type of prob-
lem—marital problems, problems in child discipline, or sibling rivalry, for example—are
seen by the therapist as a group. The therapist may also meet with one or more family
members individually at times, but the real work in opening the lines of communication
among family members is accomplished in the group setting (Frankel & Piercy, 1990;
Pinsof & Wynne, 1995). The family members may include grandparents, aunts and uncles,
and in-laws as well as the core family. This is because family therapy focuses on the family
as a whole unit or system of interacting “parts.” No one person is seen as “the problem”
because all members of the family system are part of the problem: They are experiencing
it, rewarding it, or by their actions or inactions causing it to occur in the first place.
The goal in family therapy, then, is to discover the unhealthy ways in which family
members interact and communicate with one another and change those ways to healthier,
Practice Quiz How much do you remember?
Pick the best answer.
- Behavior-based therapies are ____ based, while psycho-
dynamic and humanistic therapies are ____ based.
a. insight; action
b. action; insight
c. rationale; medically
d. medically; action- Dr. Kali works with clients to help them learn deep relaxation. Next,
he has them list their fears from least to most anxiety provoking.
Finally, Dr. Kali slowly exposes his clients to each of their fears and
assists them in gaining control of their anxiety. His approach is best
known as
a. aversion therapy.
b. systematic desensitization.
c. flooding.
d. fear therapy.- Dr. Williams uses exposure-based therapies to treat many of her
patients. Client A is actually confronted with the situation that
causes her anxiety, while Client B is asked to think about and visu-
alize the frightening situation. Client A’s treatment method would be
described as ____, while client B’s treatment method is
____.
a. virtual; in vivo
b. imaginal; virtual
c. in vivo; imaginal
d. virtual; in vivo- Which of the following therapies has been successful across multi-
ple settings in the establishment of desirable behaviors and modifi-
cation of problem behaviors?
a. token economies
b. aversion therapy
c. systematic desensitization
d. flooding- Nicole’s therapist tells her that she is applying arbitrary inference to
her thinking, which ultimately is causing her to be depressed. Which
of the following is an example of Nicole’s arbitrary inference?
a. Nicole maximizes the bad things she experiences while minimiz-
ing the good aspects of life.
b. Nicole tends to jump to conclusions with little or no evidence to
support her beliefs.
c. Nicole focuses strictly on a single negative event while ignoring
less negative aspects.
d. Nicole tends to overgeneralize a single bad event and assume all
things about her life are failing.
In family therapy, a therapist will often meet
with the entire family in the effort to identify
what aspects of the family dynamic is
contributing to a problem, such as conflict
between different family members.group therapy
form of therapy or treatment during
which a small group of clients with
similar concerns meet together with a
therapist to address their issues.family counseling (family therapy)
a form of group therapy in which
family members meet together with a
counselor or therapist to resolve prob-
lems that affect the entire family.