PowerPoint Presentation on Group Therapy

1. GROUP THERAPY
YVES AMOUGOU, MSN RN
REGIS COLLEGE
NU-646-01-18PCSP Theory and Practice of
Contemporary Psychotherapy
Professor Cassandra Godzik

2. Introduction
According to the American Psychological Association
(2018), a group therapy is form of psychotherapy
involving one or more psychologists who lead a group of
roughly 5 to 15 patients.
Groups meet for an hour or two each week.
Many groups are designed to target a specific problem,
such as depression, obesity, panic disorder, social
anxiety, chronic pain or substance abuse.
Groups often help those who have experienced loss,
whether it be a spouse, a child or someone who died by
suicide.

3. Historical Perspective
Aristotle studied the effect on social
interactions on individuals.
Freud studied individual behaviors in groups
In 1905 Dr. Pratt held the first therapeutic
group for tuberculosis patients (APA, 2018).
Formal group therapy begin to take place
around first half of 20th century.
After World War II, physicians resolved to
conduct group therapy as most efficient was
to consult many patients with psychiatric
illness due to war exposure(Wheeler, 2014,
p. 407).

4. Key Figures
 Joseph Moreno: psychopathology was the result of
massively internalized behavioral and emotional
control. For him, patients needed to practice the
release of their suppressed emotions (catharsis).
Moreno introduced the notion of psychodrama to
psychotherapy. Moreno was opposing Freud’s views of
psychotherapy, by focusing on the here and now,
rather than the unreachable past /psychoanalysis
(Wheeler, 2014, p. 407).
 Wilfred Bion: Bion focused on the collective group
processes rather than individual (Wheeler, 2014,
p.408).

5. Key Figures (Continued)
 Samuel Slavson: believed that when engaged in a group
tasks, participants could develop strong sense of
solidarity and common purpose, thus bringing out
aspects of their personality that either they were not
aware of or they rarely used (Wheeler, 2014, p. 408).
 Irvin Yalom (1931, 86 years old): He was a pioneer in
existential psychotherapy, and his main idea was that
mental illness was associated with existential struggles.
Yalom introduced the 11 Therapeutic Factors of Group
Therapy (Wheeler, 2014, p 409).

6. Key Terms & Concepts
 Instillation of hope: hope comes from the therapist
belief in therapeutic process, and group members as
the group progresses
 Universality: This helps foster the idea that group
members are not alone in their walk.
 Imparting Information: the goal is to empower client
by educating them on the destructive thought process
 Altruism: individual group members benefit from
extending help to others.
 The Corrective Recapitulation of the Primary Family
Group: The goal is to offer safe corrective
environment.

7. Key Terms & Concepts
(Continued)
 Development of Socialization Techniques: Here group members
learn from each other.
 Imitative Behavior: Coping skills are developed and reinforced
during this stage.
 Interpersonal Learning: Group members learn from each other
based on interpersonal connectedness
 Group Cohesiveness: Increase sense of belonging among all group
members
 Catharsis: Group members are able to express deep emotional
feelings
 Existential Factors: pertains to the fact over the course their
lives, human beings are doomed to cope with pain and other
existential realities

8. Group Therapy Stages
 Orientation: members seek out
guidance and acceptance from group
leader
 Storming: members are figuring out
their place within the group
 Norming: trust is crucial at this stage
 Performing: members accomplish
deeper work
 Adjourning: termination of group
(Wheeler,2014, p. 419).

9. Assessment
 According to Wheeler (2014), there are
many types of group therapy based on
purpose and function:
Psychoeducational groups
Support groups
Self-help groups
 There are many diagnoses that may use
group therapy. Here is a small list:
Depression, Eating Disorder, Anxiety
Disorder, Panic Disorder, Grief and Loss,
Disruptive, Impulse Control Disorder

10. Treatment Approach,
Methods, & Techniques
 Behavioral Approaches: including Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy, Contingency Management, Motivational
Enhancement Therapy and 12 Steps facilitation Therapy
 Family Based Approaches: including Brief Strategic
Family Therapy, Family Behavioral Therapy, Functional
family Therapy and Multidimensional Family Therapy
 Addiction Medication: Several medications have been
found to be effective in treating addiction to opioids,
alcohol, or nicotine in adults
 Recovery Support Therapy: This is to ensure continued
therapy in the community after discharge

11. Case Study
 PJ 13 year old black female admitted at P. Hospital for
suicidal ideations with a plan to overdose with Tylenol.
PJ has a history of Depression and Anxiety of about 4
years. Depressive symptoms got exacerbated with
recent parents’ divorce about 6 months ago.
Depressive symptoms include anhedonia, hopelessness,
powerlessness, sense of guilt, changes in appetite and
sleep pattern, low energy level and self-injurious
behavior by self-inflicting superficial skin tear to
various body part. Last episode of self-harm was
yesterday on upper extremities.
 PJ has been consulting a community therapist weekly
for about three months for depression and social
anxiety, and she is taking Prozac 20 mg PO daily.

12. Case Study (Continued)
 PJ medical history is unremarkable, No family history of mental
illness, no history of brain injury, no history of drug use of misuse,
no history of physical abuse, emotional abuse, and no history of
sexual victimization.
 PJ is 8th grader at a local middle school, with mostly A’s and B’s,
no history of bullying, no legal issues, no history of behavioral
disturbance in the community, PJ refused to disclose religious
affiliation. PJ lives with mom as custodian. PJ has on siblings, and
no known extended family support. Since parents’ divorce, PJ has
not spoken with dad. PJ stated that she used to have a great
relation with both parents.
 At time of assessment, PJ appearance was consistent with stated
age, patient was depressed and anxious, with constricted affect.
No memory impairment, no noticeable cognitive impairment.

13. Case Study (Continued)
Based on PJ’s presentation, she will
benefit from a combination of
psychotropic medication management
as well as individual and group
therapy. In addition, PJ will have a
family therapy, with a plan to return
prior living arrangement, with
outpatient counseling after hospital
discharge.

14. Exercise/Worksheet
 An example of a group therapy worksheet may ask
group participants to explore self-awareness by simply
sharing their response to the following questions, and
sharing them with the group:
 Examine yourself and write down your strengths, talents
and favorite activities:
 Write down your personal weaknesses:
 Write down 5 things that you have learned easily and
quickly:
 Complete the following sentences:
I am a person who
A thing that I can’t accept in others is

15. Video (Please double-click on the
video)

16. EBP Practice
Article 1: Rahmani, M., Saeed, B. B., & Aghili, M. (2016).
Integrating effect of art and music therapy on depression in
adolescents. Journal of Educational Sciences & Psychology,
6(2), 78-87.
Article 2: Rie, K., Lang, K., Ayano, Y., Shoko, K., Yuriko, M.,
Michiko, N., & Eiji, S. (2017). Group cognitive remediation
therapy for younger adolescents with anorexia nervosa: a
feasibility study in a Japanese sample. BMC Research Notes,
1035-41. doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2642-5
Article 3: Ardashir, A., Bayat, A., Nazafarin, H., & Haghgoo,
A. (2018). The effects of group cognitive behavior therapy
(GCBT) on suicidal thoughts in patients with major
depression. Middle East Journal Of Family Medicine, 16(2),
228-235. doi:10.5742/MEWFM.2018.93293

17. Resources
Professional Associations:
 American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA)
 American Psychological Association
Trainings & Certifications / CMEs:
Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related
Programs.
The AGPA provides Certification courses for Group
Therapy to mental health practitioners (Recertification
every 2 years)

18. Resources
Websites
 APA: (http://www.apa.org)
 AGPA: (http://www.agpa.org)
 CACREP (http://www.cacrep.org/)
Videos
Psychotherapy.net is a good resource for group
therapy videos, but there is a fee associated
with its use

19. Conclusion
Although routine antidepressants and
psychotropic medication management
have been proven to reduce suicidal
ideation during hospitalization, group
therapy along with medication
management may be more effective
to prevent suicidal thoughts and be
considered a superior treatment
option (Rie et al., 2017).

20. References
American Psychological Association, (2018). Pschotherapy: Understanding group therapy.
Assessed from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/group-therapy.aspx
Ardashir, A., Bayat, A., Nazafarin, H., & Haghgoo, A. (2018). The effects of group cognitive
behavior therapy (GCBT) on suicidal thoughts in patients with major depression. Middle
East Journal of Family Medicine, 16(2), 228-235. doi:10.5742/MEWFM.2018.93293
Ezhumalai, S., Muralidhar, D., Dhanasekarapandian, R., & Nikketha, B. S. (2018). Group
interventions. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 60S514-S521.
doi:10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_42_18
Hale, A., & Richard Spates, C. (2015). Behavioral activation: Only an intervention for treating
depression, or an approach for achieving a meaningful life?. Annals of Psychotherapy &
Integrative Health, 1-14.
National Institute of Health, (2018). Principles of Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Treatment:
A Research-Based Guide. Retrieved from
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-adolescent-substance-use-disorder-
treatment-research-based-guide/evidence-based-approaches-to-treating-adolescent-
substance-use-disorders/addiction-medications
Psychotherapy.net (2009, May 9). Irvin Yalom Inpatient Group Therapy Video [Video podcast].

21. My Study Guide
1. What is group therapy
2. Name key figures of group therapy
3. Types of group therapy
4. Review of Yalom’s 11 key terms of
group therapy
5. Name 5 DSM-5 diagnoses using
group therapy
Any question and comments???