The cotherapy relationship: Special issues and problems in aids therapy groups

This paper examines the special issues and problems in the co-leadership relationship which arise in ongoing AIDS therapy and support groups. A brief review is given outlining some of the advantages and disadvantages of the coleader model. Specific attention is then paid to the issues/themes of physical deterioration of members, disfigurement, frequent absences, and members dying. Four particular patterns of interaction that develop between cotherapists are identified, illustrated, and discussed.The author thanks the Group Services staff and volunteer therapists for their contributions to this article.     

Laboratory training and encounter groups

This article reviews developments and concepts in the small group training field. It provides a brief historical perspective on group training and working definitions for some of the more frequently mentioned types of small groups: the T-group, encounter group, marathon, and therapy group. It also comments on research dealing with both the effects of group training and professional-ethical issues.     

On teaching psychotherapy via consultation and cotherapy

In this article Dr. Whitaker presents his basic assumptions about teaching psychotherapy. He discusses his expectations of himself and his trainees in the teaching relationship and how he attempts to empower the trainee in his/her professional growth. Following this, Dr. Garfield joins Dr. Whitaker in a dialogue about consultation and cotherapy.     

Utilization of groups in training for school consultation

The purpose of the present paper is to describe the utilization of groups over the past six years in our two semester school consultation practicum course. In addition, problems and issues raised by the utilization of groups are considered. Three tensions resulting from the utilization of groups are described and it is concluded that regardless of the complexity of the issues or the instructor's fallibility, the three tensions represent issues around which instructors must make decisions.     

Teaching cotherapy: Instructional and supervisory processes

A course on cotherapy for mental health practitioners is described. The authors strongly recommend that clinicians from all disciplines be taught and trained to do cotherapy, since it is a highly effective therapeutic modality in treating individuals, families and groups.     

Coping skill training in groups

Though similar to traditional group psychotherapy in many respects, a coping skill training approach differs principally in several areas and technically in many more. Coping skill training group therapy tends to employ many concrete intervention strategies to enhance various aspects of process, drawing on ongoing data to evaluate group interaction and individual responses. The approach draws more heavily on cognitive, modeling, reinforcement, and problem-solving procedures to achieve specifically determined goals, and it depends less on interpretive and confrontative methods. The author discusses a wide range of techniques to show the benefits of this approach.     

Large groups in treatment and training settings

A review of published work over the past decade and a half supports the effectiveness of the large group in clinical settings. Greater sophistication among practitioners has led to combining administrative, psychotherapeutic, and sociotherapeutic large groups and to the use of effective treatment teams and clearly defined contracts in inpatient hospital work. Some research findings suggest that large treatment groups are as effective as small therapy groups with some patient populations. There appears to be a movement toward convergence in the techniques employed by individual, small group, and large group therapists in practice, while not in theory. This positive trend in the mental health field may lead to more flexible practitioners.He is also on the board of the A. K. Rice Institute and a faculty member of the Cincinnati Psychoanalytic Institute. He would like to thank Walter Stone and Peter Herr for their comments and Lorna Volk for editing.     

The history of training and research in Balint groups

SUMMARY

The aim of Balint groups has changed very little, if at all, over the last 20 years. Changes, however, have occurred in the techniques which the general practitioners study in the groups, and these are described in this paper.     

Pastoral care through small groups

Summary Pastoral care has for too long been conceived as the task of the ordained clergyman alone. The concept of shared leadership now offers us a unique tool to implement the pastoral care of the whole church—the laity as well as clergy. The small group, as a locus of care and concern and as a training tool, offers a unique way by which this ministry of the laity may become a reality, but training in small group process is vitally important to release this potential.