Group Therapy Essay

Some group members may bid attention and nurturance by asking for suggestions about a problem that is either insoluble or has already been solved. Therefore, advice-giving or advice-seeking behavior is often an important clue in elucidation of interpersonal pathology (Yalom & Leszcz, 2005, p. 12).
In altruism, group members gain through giving, not only receiving help as part of the reciprocal giving-receiving sequence, but also in profiting from something intrinsic to the act of giving. Group therapy is unique in being the only therapy that offers clients with the opportunity to be of benefit to others. It also encourages role versatility, requiring clients to shift between roles of help receivers and help providers (Yalom & Leszcz, 2005,

This is considerable evidence that group therapist influence the communicational patterns in their groups by modeling certain behaviors. In groups, the imitative process is more diffuse: clients may model themselves on aspects of the other group members as well as of the therapist. Group members learn from watching one another tackle problems. The importance of imitative behavior in the therapeutic process is difficult to gauge, but social-psychological research suggests that therapist may have underestimated it. In group therapy it is not uncommon for a member to benefit by observing the therapy of another member with a similar problem pattern, which is a phenomenon generally referred to as vicarious or spectator therapy (Yalom & Leszcz, 2005, p.

It is the group therapy analogue of important therapeutic factors in individual therapy such insight working through the transference, and the corrective emotional experience. Also, it represents processes unique to the group setting that unfold only as a result of specific work on the part if the therapist. Interpersonal learning is also defined by the importance of interpersonal relationships and the group as social microcosm (Yalom & Leszcz, 2005, p. 19). In group therapy, this approach should be directed toward the correction of interpersonal distortions, thus enabling the client to lead a more abundant life, to participate collaboratively with others, to obtain interpersonal satisfaction in the context of realistic, mutually satisfying interpersonal relationships (Yalom & Leszcz, 2005, p.