An Analysis of Co-Therapist Interaction in Group Psychotherapy

Practitioners are often faced with the decision about when to recommend individual or group treatment for clients. By reviewing the clinical and the research literature, this article examines the indications and the contraindications for group treatment. Results of the research literature review suggest that group treatment was more effective than individual treatment in 25 percent of the studies. Group treatment was also found to be more efficient than individual treatment in 31 percent of the studies reviewed. However, the research literature did not yield a clear pattern regarding the types of problems most effectively treated in groups. In contrast, the clinical literature does offer some valid and cogent guidelines which are described in the article.