The Small Group as a Therapeutic Medium

Abstract

Interest in the therapeutic effects of experience in small groups is by no means confined to psychiatry; social workers, occupational therapists, marriage guidance counsellors, and many others in the helping professions are equipping themselves with the skills and knowledge to conduct small groups, in the belief that this is a powerful medium for beneficial change. In this chapter the term ‘therapeutic’ will be used in a broad way to denote any group deliberately established with the aim of producing psychological change or growth in its members. Defined in this way, the kinds of groups under consideration will include not only formally constituted psychotherapy groups and those aimed at psychodynamic change, but counselling groups, activity groups for disturbed children, groups for bereaved people and those with a variety of physical and social handicaps, as well as for those with interpersonal problems. On the whole, such groups are regarded as being particularly valuable in overcoming isolation and increasing social effectiveness and social functioning. Research which has implications for the group conductor comes from a number of sources: from the field of group psychotherapy, from the encounter movement, and from social psychologists with an interest in small group phenomena in relation to problem-solving, morale, decision-making and the like in the work situation. This chapter draws mainly on the first two of these sources—group psychotherapy and the encounter group movement.