Many types of psychological treatment may be provided for groups of patients who have psychiatric disorders. This is true, for example, of relaxation training and anxiety-management training. There are also self-help groups, of which Alcoholics Anonymous is perhaps the best known. A considerable number of group experiences have been devised for people who are not suffering from any psychiatric disorder; encounter groups are a well-known example. This discussion, however, is concerned with long-term dynamic group therapy, in which six to 10 psychiatric patients meet with a trained group therapist, or sometimes two therapists, usually for 60 to 90 minutes a week for several months or even years. Often the group is closed—i.e., confined to the original group membership, even if one or more members drop out before the treatment ends. In an open group, patients who have stopped attending, whether by default or because of the relief of symptoms, are replaced by new members.

The types of mental disorders considered suitable for group therapy are much the same as those suitable for individual therapy. Patients with disorders that render them vulnerable in the face of interpersonal feedback, however, are not good candidates for group therapy. It is also important for patients not to think of group therapy as a poor or second alternative to individual therapy.

There are many varieties of dynamic group therapy, and they differ in their theoretical background and technique. The influential model of American psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom provides a good example of such therapies. In this approach the therapist continually encourages the patients to direct their attention to the personal interactions occurring within the group rather than to what happened in the past to individual members or events currently taking place outside the group, although both of these areas may be considered when they are relevant. Throughout these sessions the therapist draws attention to what is happening among members of the group as they learn more about themselves and test out different ways of behaving with one another. The goal in group therapy is to create a climate in which the participants can shed their inhibitions. When the members come to trust one another, they are able to provide feedback and to respond to other group members in ways that might not be possible in ordinary social interactions.

Several factors contribute to effective group therapy. The most important is group cohesion, which gives patients a feeling of belonging, identification, and security, thereby enabling them to be frank and open and to take risks without the danger of rejection. Another is universality, which refers to the patient’s realization that he or she is not uniquely troubled and that all the other group members have problems, some of which are similar. Optimism about what can be achieved in the group, fostered by the perception of change in others, combats demoralization. Guidance, the giving of advice and explanation, is important in the early meetings of the group and is largely a function of the therapist. What has been called vicarious learning later becomes more important; through this the patient observes how other group members reach solutions to common problems and then emulates the desirable qualities seen in fellow members. Catharsis, or the release of highly charged emotion, occurs within the group setting and can be helpful, provided that the patient is able to understand it and appreciate its significance. Another factor that is helpful in improving self-esteem is altruism, the opportunity to give assistance to another group member.

Family therapy

Family therapists view the family as the “patient” or “client” and as more than the sum of its members. The family as a focus for treatment usually comprises the members who live under the same roof, sometimes supplemented by relatives who live elsewhere or by nonrelatives who share the family home. Therapy with couples may be considered as a special type of family therapy. Family therapy may be appropriate when the person referred for treatment has symptoms clearly related to such disturbances in family function as marital discord, distorted family roles, and parent-child conflict or when the family as a unit asks for help. It is not appropriate when a single individual has a severe disorder needing specific treatment in its own right.

The many theoretical approaches include psychoanalytic, systems-theory, and behavioral models. In the first approach the analyst is concerned with the family’s past as the cause of the present and pays attention to psychodynamic aspects of the individual members and of the family as a whole. The analyst also makes numerous interpretations while attempting to increase the insight of the members.

The systems therapist, by comparison, is interested in the present rather than the past and is often not concerned with promoting insight, working instead to change the family system, perhaps by altering the implicit and fixed rules under which it functions so that it can do so more effectively.

Finally, the behavior therapist is concerned with behavior patterns—especially those that pinpoint reinforcements of behavior seen as undesirable by other family members. Members specify the changes in behavior that they wish to see in each other, and strategies are devised to reinforce the desired behaviors. This approach has been shown to be effective in work with couples, when one partner promises some particular change on the condition that the other reciprocates.

Treatment sessions in family therapy are rarely held more often than once a week and often take place only once every three or four weeks. Termination commonly occurs when the therapist considers that treatment has succeeded—or failed irretrievably—or when the family firmly decides to withdraw from treatment. There seems no doubt that family therapy can produce marked change within a family.