Psychoanalysis and the Family Neurosis by Martin Grotjahn

Abstract

This study examined the factor structure and validity of the Therapeutic Factors Inventory-Short Form (TFI-S), a measure originally developed to assess Yalom’s eleven conceptually derived therapeutic factors. Patients in a group-oriented day treatment program (n = 174) completed the TFI-S and other measures to assess concurrent and predictive validity. Four broad therapeutic factors were identified: Instillation of Hope, Secure Emotional Expression, Awareness of Interpersonal Impact, and Social Learning. Alpha coefficients ranged from .71 to .91. Significant correlations between the TFI-S factors and Group Climate Questionnaire subscales provided preliminary evidence for the concurrent validity of the TFI S. Significant relationships were also identified between the TFI-S factors and improvement in symptoms, quality of life, and interpersonal distress at the end of treatment, suggesting that the TFI-S may have predictive validity.     

Recent Developments in Psychoanalytic Child Therapy Edited by Joseph Weinreb

This article provides an annotated summary of 26 different procedures potentially useful in analyzing group therapy process, and includes an overview of therapeutic themes, research issues and clinical implications. The goal is to familiarize clinicians and researchers with the range of standardized and semistandardized procedures available for studying group interactions that have appeared in the literature during the past several decades. The authors concentrate on observer rating systems and do not systematically review self-report instruments. It is argued that the application of objective rating systems may foster greater understanding of group therapeutic interactions than is generally possible through normal clinical observations.     

Psychoanalytic Education,Vol. V. Science and Psychoanalysis Edited by Jules H. Masserman

This article uses a psychoanalytic ego-psychological framework to examine the regression experienced by an individual group member and the defenses mobilized to counter it, focusing in particular on the defensive functions of constituting leadership somewhere in the group. The leader, regarded as an internal object in the member's object world, is hypothesized to be a combination of projected and personified part-objects and at the same time an integrating whole object. Various phenomena of group life are discussed from this viewpoint, notably the lability of the relationship with the leader, the externalization of various endopsychic regulations, and the conditions supporting the defensive utility of the leader for the group member. The foundation for the emergence of social roles and consensual perception of the group and its leadership becomes apparent. A strictly intrapsychic view is maintained throughout.     

Changing Concepts of Psychoanalytic Medicine Edited by Sandor Rado and George G. Daniels

A meta-analysis was conducted combining results from nine studies, using seventy-five outcome measures of 349 subjects. Only studies that contrasted group, individual, and control treatments with a pretest-posttest design were selected. Estimates of effect sizes were calculated for group, individual, and control treatments across all studies, according to treatment modality (psychotherapy, counseling, or psychoeducation), type of control (no treatment or some treatment), date of the study (1955–1969 or 1977–1982), and the subjects' age (adult, adolescent, or child). Results indicated that both group and individual treatments had a measurable effect that was consistently greater than that of controls. Further, (1) counseling produced much more of an effect than either therapy or psychoeducation; (2) the more recent treatments produced larger effects than the older studies; and (3) group treatments were more effective than individual methods in the treatment of adolescents, but were less effective in the treatment of children.     

The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child,Volume VI Edited by Ruth S. Eissler,Anna Freud,Heinz Hartmann,Ernst Kris

Abstract

The effect of affective group bibliotherapy (GB) was compared to affective group therapy (GT) on patients’ functioning in therapy and their session impression. Three small groups totaling twenty–five in–patients in a hospital in Israel participated in the study. Clients concurrently participated in both group types, undergoing three sessions in each condition. In–therapy behaviors were assessed through the Client Behavior System (CBS; Hill &; O’Brien, 1999). Results indicated that in the GB condition compared to the GT condition, clients showed less resistance, used simple responses less frequently, and expressed greater affective exploration. The Session Evaluation Questionnaire (SEQ; Stiles et al., 1994) was used to measure clients’ impressions of the sessions. Results indicated that patients evaluated the two treatment conditions equally. Overall, the results support earlier findings, suggesting that affective bibliotherapy can be an effective method of treatment.