Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

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Summary: A Very Simple Review
Review: Nobody should do group psychotherapy without reading this book.

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Summary: Yalom, For Beginning A Psychotherapy Group
Review: The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy is the first text I've enjoyed reading as a psychology graduate student. Other texts have been useful and have provided me with knowledge. This book did that and more, it provided vignettes that brought Yalom's statements, research findings, and observations to life. The pages became practical as well as meaningful. In the first 216 pages of this book, Yalom lays down a much needed foundation of group psychotherapy for the neophyte therapist. These pages not only build a case for group work efficacy, but it gave the reader a workable foundation upon which to build on.I enjoyed the practicality of the chapters discussing the formation of a group. From this a psychology graduate student can easily delineate what a successful group would look like, how often it would meet, for how long, and where to meet. It is self evident that Yalom has done extensive group therapy research, for he did not provide concrete information with out backing it up with research. I haven't read too many texts in which the author takes such effort to back up his/her conclusions. This book is jammed packed with practical information and techniques a graduate student as myself can utilize when beginning their first group experience. Many details are included such as getting supervision, the leader's role, techniques, and the use of audiovisual tapes. These details along with theory and vignettes create a comprehensive and palatable resource manual on how to develop and conduct an adult psychotherapy group. However, there were a couple of topics he left out. Although, Yalom clearly indicates he does not approve with the HMO movement of brief therapy, it is a reality. He indicated that he likes his groups to meet for 18 months. Neophyte therapist at internship sites and post graduate sites are dealing with HMOs, college campus psychological clinics, school based setting, etc. and this length of time is never an option. He doesn't have to agree with such time constraints, but not address them is a disservice to novice therapists. The neophyte therapist is clearly his audience in this book, thus it is important he address the audience's needs. He should know what is expected of us in our profession. What is often expected of us, is to work with clients within eight to ten sessions. I would have loved to receive practical ways of conducting and modifying his approach to fit the time constraints that I and other neophyte therapists face. I work in a school based counseling program. Many of the children are so emotionally and verbally impaired, that I do not think they would provide the group with much, if any, verbal material. I'd like to know how Yalom feels about child group work and how he'd make the preliminary preparations and conduct sessions. Children have very different capabilities and needs, and I would have liked Yalom to address them.

Rating:
Summary: A learning experience
Review: Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy by Dr. Yalom is an excellent book from which to gain knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of group process and also and essential piece of literature to keep at hand as a valuable reference book. This is the book that should be part of the therapy room equipment. I found this book to be pretty comprehensive and well written. Each chapter unfolds in a refined, detailed, manner providing depth in understanding every step of the process of group therapy. Yalon goes beyond reminding us of the importance of the therapeutic environment to provide a safe and warm place to facilitate sharing and disclosing. He expands from his theoretical framework to explain group dynamics in practical, concrete, ways through the use of terminology from other philosophical views and perspectives. He also stresses the need for therapists to strive to create a therapeutic culture in which the group and individual members can begin to take the roles they play in their natural environments. His whole approach to the process of group therapy is existential emphasizing on the "Here and now" and focusing on what is going on in the immediate present of the group. Evidence of his existential approach can be seen throughout the book with his consistent theme of interpersonal learning, self-exploration, self-growth, and taking responsibility for changing one's behavior to enhance personal life. Yalon provides answers to the questions he anticipates his readers may have. Questions such as regarding the creation of a group, and probable problems encountered during the course of different phases of group therapy. He goes on to explain in a detailed, specific manner, different variables that may influence the success of the group. He also provides possible solutions to these problems and transmits to the reader a sense of faith on the success of the group, and the process of the group learning experience. An important aspect, that yalon neglected when writing this book, is cultural diversity. It appears that the results of the research mentioned in his book can not be generalized to populations other than white, middle class adults, who are at a certain intellectual level of functioning, and who are motivated to work to change. Other than that, this book is an excellent resource book "To keep and to hold till'..." another better book comes along and "Do us apart"..

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Summary: The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
Review: This book is one that every graduate student in psychology or beginning therapist should read and have on their shelf. Yalom covers and discusses many important aspects of group therapy such as interpersonal learning, basic thearpist tasks, the idea of working in the here-and-now, therapist transference and transparency, selection of patients, creating a group, problem patients and training the group therapist. Yalom addresses this book to new therapists just starting out, as well as therapists who have been in the field for some time. Yalom presents the new therapist with the many considerations that need to be looked at when forming a group and actually leading a group and he assists the therapists who have been in the field for some time with ways in which to sharpen or improve their skills. Yalom's book appears to be based on highly functioning upper middle class individuals who seem to have good jobs and relationships with their family, friends and spouses. One may gather this assumption from the clinical vignettes and cases that Yalom presents throughout the entire book. Yalom incorporates much of his own practical experience with individuals in the groups that he has led himself, which makes his book feel like you are reading a novel and not a textbook per se. Although Yalom based his book on highly functioning upper middle class individuals, he never addressed the idea of group therapy with children or individuals of different ethnic backgrounds, which seem to be two important areas in today's society, especially within the realm of therapy. Yalom incorporates a rigorous research base within his text, such as discussing some of the current treatment modes and the diagnostic criteria for managed care, which other authors tend to maybe leave out or not touch upon, in essence leading the reader to believe that what Yalom speaks about is true, factual and practical when referring to group therapy. Although Yalom conducted an extensive amount of research on the area of managed care, I do not think it is possible for an individual to be covered by a managed health care or insurance company for a group that is conducted over a one to two year period, as Yalom presents in some of his clinical vignettes. One thing that I think Yalom has done that other authors have not is present the reader with twelve variables that he refers to as "therapeutic factors," (i.e. instillation of hope, universality, altruism, and group cohesiveness) which in essence are the driving tools and elements that assist therapy groups with rectifying individual character distortions. Yalom's book assisted our graduate psychology class in gaining an immense amount of insight and depth into the area of group therapy in such a short amount of time. Yalom's book is one that should be included in all graduate programs in psychology!

Rating:
Summary: The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
Review: This book is one that every graduate student in psychology or beginning therapist should read and have on their shelf. Yalom covers and discusses many important aspects of group therapy such as interpersonal learning, basic thearpist tasks, the idea of working in the here-and-now, therapist transference and transparency, selection of patients, creating a group, problem patients and training the group therapist. Yalom addresses this book to new therapists just starting out, as well as therapists who have been in the field for some time. Yalom presents the new therapist with the many considerations that need to be looked at when forming a group and actually leading a group and he assists the therapists who have been in the field for some time with ways in which to sharpen or improve their skills. Yalom's book appears to be based on highly functioning upper middle class individuals who seem to have good jobs and relationships with their family, friends and spouses. One may gather this assumption from the clinical vignettes and cases that Yalom presents throughout the entire book. Yalom incorporates much of his own practical experience with individuals in the groups that he has led himself, which makes his book feel like you are reading a novel and not a textbook per se. Although Yalom based his book on highly functioning upper middle class individuals, he never addressed the idea of group therapy with children or individuals of different ethnic backgrounds, which seem to be two important areas in today's society, especially within the realm of therapy. Yalom incorporates a rigorous research base within his text, such as discussing some of the current treatment modes and the diagnostic criteria for managed care, which other authors tend to maybe leave out or not touch upon, in essence leading the reader to believe that what Yalom speaks about is true, factual and practical when referring to group therapy. Although Yalom conducted an extensive amount of research on the area of managed care, I do not think it is possible for an individual to be covered by a managed health care or insurance company for a group that is conducted over a one to two year period, as Yalom presents in some of his clinical vignettes. One thing that I think Yalom has done that other authors have not is present the reader with twelve variables that he refers to as "therapeutic factors," (i.e. instillation of hope, universality, altruism, and group cohesiveness) which in essence are the driving tools and elements that assist therapy groups with rectifying individual character distortions. Yalom's book assisted our graduate psychology class in gaining an immense amount of insight and depth into the area of group therapy in such a short amount of time. Yalom's book is one that should be included in all graduate programs in psychology!

Rating:
Summary: Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, June 5, 2001
Review: Yalom's book, The Theory And Practice of Group Psychotherapy, is written in such a way that a reader with a fair understanding of psychological theory and clinical practice can understand and utilize the material presented. As a student, I found the book extremely helpful as the material was presented in such a way that I will be able to use it in the future should I decide to practice group therapy; of which, I am interested. I found the structure of the book helpful as the table of contents led me through the book in a progressive manner that provided me with motivation to keep reading. This structure began with an overview of a study that presented what patients found helpful in a group therapy setting and the process through which this learning took place. Important topics, and why these topics are important, are thoroughly explained. Topics that I especially found important were "the therapeutic factors", interpersonal learning, group cohesiveness, working in the "here-and-now", transference and transparency, creation of the group, and the specialized formats and procedural aids for therapists. The benefit of being able to utilize the material in the future made the length of the book much more appealing. Yalom covers material that will help me start a group, move a group along and understand the dynamics of transference and how it works for a therapist if it is recognized and understood. In the future I may find that Yalom does not cover something that should have been included in the book but had not been, but as of yet I will be confident as a group therapist, or cotherapist, with the material covered in the book. This book, along with the education and training that I have had this year at my training sight and in practicum, have provided me with the tools that I will need to be confident as a beginning group leader and therapist.

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Summary: The Master of Group Psychotherapy
Review: Yalom's revolutionary book is essential reading for the graduate student in counseling. It provides a comprehenive guide to the group experience, form the beginning to the end, and everywhere in between. It includes how one would create a group, problems to expect and practical solutions to these problems. The book does not read as a typical textbook, but as a novel.The authors style is informative but not laden with jargon. The high readability is also due to the fact that Yalom includes real-life examples throughout the entire book. This helps the reader to apply theory to situations that will be encountered in the course of conducting group therapy. Each chapter is outlined explicitly, which helps with future referencing. The most practical knowledge gained from reading this book is the emphasis on the here and now process of group therapy. This is an aspect often overlooked by new group therapist. The explanation of group process demystifies the group experience and explains how groups are beneficial to the members participating in them. This book is also practical in that it gives an explanation of all possible pitfalls encountered in the group setting, including problem patients and attrition in the group. The author helps the reader to know what to expect and how to handle problems when they arise. While this book was an extraordinary guide to the group experience, there were a few shortcomings. First of all, the book was based on outpatient groups that Yalom led and supervised at Stanford University, which might not be applicable to all of the population. The reader is advised to take this into account when reading the book. Also, the groups were all long-term, sometimes lasting several years. In reality, this may not be a practical occurrence, as therapist may have trouble finding members that will commit themselves to such a long term group. There were two major aspects of group therapy that needed more attention in the book. First, cross cultural issues were not discussed. This is an extremely iimportant aspect of all therapy, and it was not addressed here. It is questionable that all the results presented in this book would apply to multi-cultural situations. In addition, brief therapy groups were rarely mentioned in this book. in reality, therapists will probably conduct homogeneous brief therapy groups much more often in the course of their careers. The author included a chapter on the encounter group that was popular in previous decades but is rarely used anymore. It would have been more fruitful to address the brief therapy group and omit the encoounter group. Despite these shortcomings, this book is of extreme value to the new therapist. It includes all aspects of group behaviior and answers the readers' questions before the are even asked. It should be mandatory reading material for all graduate students before they lead their first groups.

Rating:
Summary: The Master Of Group Therapy
Review: Yalom's revolutionary book, The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, is essential reading for the graduate student in therapy and counseling. It provides a comprehensive guide to the group experience, from the beginning to the end, and everywhere in between. It includes how one would create a group, problems to expect, and practical solutions to these problems.The book does not read as a typical textbook, but as a novel. The author's style is informative, but not laden with academic jargon. The high readability is also due to the fact that Yalom includes real-life examples throughout the entire book. This helps the reader to apply theory to situations that will be encountered in the course of conducting group therapy. Each chapter is outlined explicitly, which helps with future referencing.The most practical knowledge gained from reading this book is the emphasis the author places on the here-and-now process of group therapy. This is an aspect often overlooked by new group therapists. The explanation of group process demystifies the group experience and explains how it is that groups are beneficial to the members participating in them. This book is also practical in that it gives an explanation of all possible pitfalls encountered in the group setting, including problem patients and attrition in the group. The author helps the reader to know what to expect and how to handle problems when they arise.While this book was an extraordinary guide to the group experience, there were a few shortcomings. First of all, the book was based on outpatient groups Yalom lead at Stanford, which might not be applicable to all of the population. The reader is advised to take this into account when reading the book. Also, the groups were all long-term, sometimes lasting several years. In reality, this may not be a practical occurrence, as therapists may have trouble finding members that will commit themselves to such a long-term group.There were two major aspects of group therapy that needed more attention in this book. First of all, cross-cultural issues were not discussed in this book. This is an extremely important aspect of all therapy, and it was not addressed here. It is questionable that all of the results presented in this book would apply to multi-cultural situations. In addition, brief therapy groups were rarely mentioned in this book. In reality, therapists will probably conduct homogeneous brief therapy groups much more often in the course of their careers. The author included a chapter on the encounter group that was so popular in previous decades but is rarely used anymore. It would have been more fruitful to address the brief therapy group and omit the encounter group.Despite these shortcomings, this book is of extreme value to the new therapist. It includes the group in all aspects, and answers readers' questions before they are even asked. It should be mandatory reading material for all graduate students before they lead their first groups.

Rating:
Summary: Timeless
Review: Yalom's techniques are timeless, as long as human nature and how it plays out in social interactions transcends time and place. Thus, decades after publication, this book of group therapy lives on, whereas others, more faddish, are either narrowly focused on sufferers of the "disease of the year", or, in the case of "pragmatic", short-term "manual-based" groups which insurance companies favor, assume that all one has to do is give the patient the right recipe and 8 weeks to practice it, and they'll be cured of life-long ingrained pathological behaviors.
Anyone who thinks this book is "out of touch" or demonstrates a lack of empathy by Yalom, probably has a pet style of group therapy, and an axe to grind. Often, seemingly more empathic therapists, run groups in which everyone takes turns getting sympathy, distress is "validated", whereas the patient's contribution to it is ignored, and the premise is that sufferers are misunderstood victims of a neglected disease who are finally in the hands of someone who "gets it". Usually therapists who lead such groups, don't only wish to empathize, but are driven by a wish to feed their own vision of their specialness as the champions of the underdogs.
One of Yalom's greatest contributions is the effectiveness with which he used the group approach to exactly show patients how they cause their own distress--by creating a group atmosphere in which members play out their poor social skills, and get the powerful impact of peer feedback on this. He did so in a way which demonstrated genuine empathy in action: by steering members to identify (and empathize) not only with each others' misery, but with each others' strengths. Sympathy without a kick in the [...], is patronizing, and implies inequality. Sympathy with a kick in the [...] (always best given by peers), is sympathy with belief in your power--this shows respect for all of you, your strengths and your miseries. THIS is empathy. THIS is what empowers group members to overcome their problems. And this truth, will never go out of date.