When group doesn't work: An examination of the types and causes of individual,group, and leader failures

Learning to recognize the types and causes of failures in group psychotherapy leads to ways of preventing or minimizing failures. Three types of failures are discussed. Causes of failure of an individual member of a group include early dropout and conflict with intimacy. Failure of the leader includes internal issues, such as countertransference, incongruent goals or desire for unrealistic treatment results, boundary issues, and setting of group structure through group rules. The leader's external issues relate to training and knowledge, while the leader's situational issues consist of those areas over which the therapist has little or no control, such as agency assignments. Failure of the group-as-a-whole may be due to therapeutic impasse or lack of cohesion. Cognizance of these factors is seen as primary in minimizing or preventing failures.