Comments on: Review of Yalom, Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy http://phenomenologicalpsychology.com/2009/12/review-of-yalom-theory-and-practice-of-group-psychotherapy/ Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:09:13 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Paul Johns http://phenomenologicalpsychology.com/2009/12/review-of-yalom-theory-and-practice-of-group-psychotherapy/comment-page-1/#comment-433 Paul Johns Thu, 26 May 2011 16:37:20 +0000 http://phenomenologicalpsychology.com/?p=225#comment-433 As a Christian, I was disturbed by Yalom's dismissal of God, but on a more fundamental level, I was bothered by Yalom's, as you call it, "hyper-positivistic tone." While he certainly elucidates the group experience in many ways, I've been tempted to re-title his work The Gospel According to Yalom since he outlines an almost g0d-like role for the group leader (not to mention what seems like Yalom's god complex). As a Christian, I was disturbed by Yalom’s dismissal of God, but on a more fundamental level, I was bothered by Yalom’s, as you call it, “hyper-positivistic tone.” While he certainly elucidates the group experience in many ways, I’ve been tempted to re-title his work The Gospel According to Yalom since he outlines an almost g0d-like role for the group leader (not to mention what seems like Yalom’s god complex).

]]> By: David Kronemyer http://phenomenologicalpsychology.com/2009/12/review-of-yalom-theory-and-practice-of-group-psychotherapy/comment-page-1/#comment-166 David Kronemyer Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:24:28 +0000 http://phenomenologicalpsychology.com/?p=225#comment-166 I think you've put your finger on the issue - how to devise an experimental protocol that would empirically test the efficacy of group therapy. I'm working on some designs for this right now, but it's difficult to devise something that meets the criteria for an EST (isolates the relevant variables, eliminates confounding variables, etc.). Thanks for the comment. I think you’ve put your finger on the issue – how to devise an experimental protocol that would empirically test the efficacy of group therapy. I’m working on some designs for this right now, but it’s difficult to devise something that meets the criteria for an EST (isolates the relevant variables, eliminates confounding variables, etc.). Thanks for the comment.

]]> By: Raymond Bokenkamp http://phenomenologicalpsychology.com/2009/12/review-of-yalom-theory-and-practice-of-group-psychotherapy/comment-page-1/#comment-165 Raymond Bokenkamp Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:16:03 +0000 http://phenomenologicalpsychology.com/?p=225#comment-165 My personal insights are that group therapy can be very useful because (a) humans are by nature social beings and (b) a group is smarter and has access to more insights and experiences than the sum of the individuals. But to measure group therapy effectiveness in general is a hard task because not all groups are lead effectively. So how would you go about quality control of the group environment/leadership when researching the effectiveness of group therapy. Raymond Bokenkamp <a href="http://blog.healthpanda.com" rel="nofollow">Read my Blog</a> <a href="http://www.healthpanda.com" rel="nofollow">Find a Therapist</a> My personal insights are that group therapy can be very useful because (a) humans are by nature social beings and (b) a group is smarter and has access to more insights and experiences than the sum of the individuals.

But to measure group therapy effectiveness in general is a hard task because not all groups are lead effectively. So how would you go about quality control of the group environment/leadership when researching the effectiveness of group therapy.

Raymond Bokenkamp
Read my Blog
Find a Therapist

]]>