Defense Date

6-15-2007

Graduation Date

Summer 2007

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Clinical Psychology

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Leswin Laubscher

Committee Member

Ezequiel Peña

Committee Member

Michael Sipiora

Keywords

action research, focus group, group therapy, qualitative, therapeutic factor, therapeutic relationship

Abstract

In 1970 Irvin Yalom published his seminal work on group therapy, in which he presented an eleven-factor theory of psychotherapy group process. Since 1970, most research on group therapeutic factors has investigated their relative importance, depending on the therapeutic setting or modality, client population, or "developmental stage" of the group. However some authors have protested that there are methodological, definitional, or content-oriented problems with extant therapeutic factor research. The present author links these three issues by understanding them as symptoms of a research-practice gap. In order to explore the limitations of existing research and consider potential remedies, she conducted a one-time focus group of seven experienced group therapists. Interpreting the results of this study, she suggests that the scientific research paradigm, frequently espoused by psychotherapy researchers, is inappropriate to the study of group therapy, and she offers suggestions for alternative modes of inquiry.

Format

PDF

Language

English

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