The Assignment
In a 3- to 4-page paper, identify the video you selected and address the following:
What group therapy techniques were demonstrated? How well do you believe these techniques were demonstrated?
What evidence from the literature supports the techniques demonstrated?
What did you notice that the therapist did well?
Explain something that you would have handled differently.
What is an insight that you gained from watching the therapist handle the group therapy?
Now imagine you are leading your own group session. How would you go about handling a difficult group member? How would you elicit participation in your group? What would you anticipate finding in the different phases of group therapy? What do you see as the benefits and challenges of group therapy?
Support your reasoning with at least three peer-reviewed, evidence-based sources, and explain why each of your supporting sources is considered scholarly. Attach the PDFs of your sources. Analyzing Group Techniques Essay
Reminder The School of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The Sample Paper provided at the Walden Writing Center provides an example of those required elements (available at http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/57.htm). All papers submitted must use this formatting.
GRADING RUBRICS
1. Develop a 3- to 4-page paper considering the role and efficacy of the leader of a group therapy demonstration. Be sure to address the following: · Describe the group therapy techniques that were demonstrated and evaluate how well they were demonstrated. . Include evidence from the literature that supports the use of the demonstrated techniques.
2. Identify what the therapist did well. · Explain something that you would have handled differently. · Identify an insight that you gained form watching the therapist handle the group therapy.
3.Imagine that you are leading your own group session. · Describe how would you go about handling a difficult group member. · Explain how you would elicit participation in your group. · Describe what you would anticipate to find in different phases of the group therapy. · Explain the benefits and challenges of group therapy.
4.• Support your reasoning with at least three peer-reviewed, evidence-based sources and explain why each of your supporting sources is considered scholarly. Attach the PDFs of your sources.Learning Resources
Required/Optional Readings (click to expand/reduce)
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.)
Wheeler, K. (Ed.). (2020). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice (3rd ed.). Springer Publishing.
Chapter 12, “Group Therapy”
Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). The therapeutic factors. In The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (5th ed.) (pp. 1–18). Basic Books.
Credit: The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, 5th Edition by Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. Copyright 2005 by Basic Books. Reprinted by permission of Basic Books via the Copyright Clearance Center.
Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). Interpersonal learning. In The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (5th ed.) (pp. 19–52). Basic Books.
Credit: The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, 5th Edition by Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. Copyright 2005 by Basic Books. Reprinted by permission of Basic Books via the Copyright Clearance Center.
Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). Group cohesiveness. In The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (5th ed.) (pp. 53–76). Basic Books.
Credit: The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, 5th Edition by Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. Copyright 2005 by Basic Books. Reprinted by permission of Basic Books via the Copyright Clearance Center.
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Analyzing Group Techniques
Group therapy is one of the evidence-based modalities of treating psychiatric conditions and one of its proponents is the existential therapist Irvin Yalom (Wheeler, 2020). A good number of psychiatric conditions such as alcohol use disorder (AUD), gambling, depression, and many others can improve through group psychotherapy (APA, 2013). Therapy groups usually consist of any number of members ranging from six up to fifteen. This depends on the group’s objectives and type. A group can be primary, secondary, or tertiary. It can also be made of either voluntary membership or involuntary membership. Voluntary membership groups have members who have joined willingly through informed consent. On the other hand, involuntary membership groups have members who have been ordered to attend group therapy by either a court of law or any other mandated authority (Corey et al., 2018; Rosenthal, 2017). Usually, these kinds of members have psychiatric conditions that make them commit petty crimes. A good example is an alcoholic or a gambler who steals some little cash to feed their addiction. Groups produce healing through group therapeutic or curative factors. These include catharsis, universality, altruism, and interpersonal learning (Overholser, 2005; Yalom & Leszcz, 2005). The purpose of this paper is to analyze a video of a group therapy session and draw conclusions by answering specific questions. Analyzing Group Techniques Essay
Q1. Some of the group therapy techniques demonstrated in the video are active listening, encouraging, cutting off, use of eyes, tone setting, and empathy. These techniques were very well brought out by the group leader or therapist, especially with regard to the member who had been silent all along. Use of eyes was employed by sitting in a circular arrangement. In this way, the therapist was able to maintain eye contact with all the group members and that s how he was able to discover the lady member who was not speaking. Tone setting was also evident by the way the therapist set the mood of the session. He directed the group members to effectively speak about their fears. He was also empathetic towards the lady who was afraid to talk and encouraged her to speak. Active listening technique was evident; and the leader kept encouraging the members to air out their feelings without fear. Lastly, the leader used the technique of cutting off very smoothly but intervening to redirect the discussion so that everyone could have a chance to say something and benefit from the curative factors.
Q2. There is enough evidence from the literature that supports the above techniques used in the video. This evidence is available in works by Rosenthal (2017), Corey et al. (2018), Overholser (2005) and Yalom and Leszcz (2005).
Q3. The thing that I noticed that the therapist did well was how he identified the member who was not speaking and encouraged her to speak. She soon revealed that she was afraid to speak because she is not used to having many people stare at her in a group and analyzing every word what she says. By carefully using encouraging and active listening techniques, the therapist was able to get the silent lady talking and interacting with the other group members.
Q4. The thing that I observed and that I may have done differently is the use of the cutting off technique. In my case, I would have used it sparingly as my opinion is that if used a lot it may have the opposite effect of discouraging group members from speaking. Most group members are sensitive and become more vulnerable at the start of the group (forming stage) and start of each session (opening phase). By watching the video, it was clear that this group was still in its formative stages. This is because the lady who was afraid to talk said that it takes her time to get used to people she does not know in a group such as the one she was in. This can only mean that there was still need to bond between the group members and knowing each other. At such a crucial stage of the group, therefore; cutting off may not be the best technique to use liberally.
Q5. The insight I gained watching the group leader handle the group is that as a group leader should have a keen eye and identify members who may be experiencing problems quickly. These are usually problems of adjustment and expression. If this does not happen, it is clear that such a member who has fears of expressing themselves may be lost as others progress and gain from the group therapeutic factors.
Q6. If I am the one leading a group session, I would handle a difficult group member by employing the technique of inner circle outer circle (Corey et al., 2018; Rosenthal, 2017). This is the technique whereby the therapist decides to place the members who are not troublesome and keen on therapy in an inner circular sitting arrangement and the troublesome members on an outer circle of seats. That way, they will not distract the rest of the members who want to benefit from the session. They can still decide to contribute constructively and if that happens they will be allowed to participate. I would also elicit participation in the group by encouraging and setting the tone as techniques. What I would anticipate finding in the different phases of group therapy are conflicts, suspicion, and misunderstanding in the opening phase; cohesiveness in the working phase; and anger in the closing phase (Corey et al., 2018). The benefits of group therapy according to me are learning from the experience of others and knowing that one is not alone in suffering the condition they have. This alone helps with healing and coping. The most important challenges that I see on the other hand are dealing with hostile involuntary group members, and the level of cultural competence (multiculturalism) required to effectively handle members from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Conclusion
Group therapy is an effective modality for treating mental health conditions. It is a safe alternative or complement to drug treatment of these conditions. However, it requires that the therapist or group leader be conversant with particular techniques that are invaluable in the success of group therapy. These include active listening, encouraging, and eye contact. Challenges abound too and the group therapist must be on the lookout for them. They include the need for multicultural competence that is unrivalled. Each of the supporting sources is scholarly because they are either authoritative subject texts written by respected experts and authorities, or are peer-reviewed journal publications.
References
American Psychiatric Association [APA] (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed. Author.
Corey, M.S., Corey, G., & Corey, C. (2018). Groups: Processes and practice, 10th ed. Cengage Learning.
Overholser, J.C. (2005). Group psychotherapy and existential concerns: An interview with Irvin Yalom. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 35(2), 185-197. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10879-005-2699-7
Rosenthal, H. (2017). Encyclopedia of counseling: Master review and tutorial for the National Counselor Examination, State Counseling Exams, and the Counselor Preparation, 4th ed. Routledge.
Wheeler, K. (2020). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice, 3rd ed. Springer Publishing Company, LLC.
Yalom, I.D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy, 5th ed. Basic Books. Analyzing Group Techniques Essay