The Effectiveness of Collaborative Story Building and Telling in Facilitating Group Cohesion in a College Classroom Setting

Abstract

This study tested the notion that the construction and telling of a collaborative group story would facilitate the development of group cohesion within the context of an actual classroom setting over the duration of the course. Participants were 125 students in 8 classes (4 experimental, 4 control) of a group psychotherapy course that focused on the principles and techniques of cognitive behavior therapy in conjunction with psychodrama techniques. Results showed significantly higher cohesion scores in the experimental condition compared to the control condition, suggesting that collaborative story building and telling is a viable strategy for improving group cohesion.