INVITED SYMPOSIUM: Practice Guidelines for Group Treatment: professionalizing group treatment in the Netherlands

 

Submission type

Symposium

Scheduled

Parallel Session V: Veilingzaal, 09-06-2018, 09:00 - 10:30

Kernwoorden

Group treatment, research, Guidelines, EBP

Onderzoeksgebied

Group and inpatient psychotherapy

Beknopte samenvatting van de totale bijdrage

Typical for Dutch mental healthcare is a diversity of group treatments, with different methods, by professionals with different levels of education. Practice Guidelines for group treatment help therapists to handle and make use of the dynamic group processes. The cornerstones of these quality-enhancing guidelines will be presented

Auteurs

Discussion

Koks, R.W. (Rob), Haas, W. de (Willem)

 

Abstract ID

1021

Submission type

Oral only

Introductie

Discussion on the theme

Auteurs

How do groups work ? Development of the research on groups

Koks, R.W. (Rob)

 

Abstract ID

1018

Submission type

Oral only

Introductie

Is a group merely the sum of its separate members ? Or can we speak of a group as a whole with its own rules and laws ? In this presentation the history of the research on groups and group processes is outlined. Four different fields of research in two periods will be explicated. Before 1975: influenced by the evolution of psychoanalysis there was a growing awareness that groups function as a social system with mutual influence by interaction. Social psychological research between 1950 and 1970 confirmed the existence of a group as a system with its own regularities. After 1975: research on specific disorders shows that group therapy is effective for several disorders, and that group therapy is cheaper than individual therapy. In the research on group processes common group factors appeared to have as much influence on the result of group treatment as the specific method. Generally cohesion is considered as important in a group treatment as the therapeutic relationship is in individual treatment ; and cohesion appears to be the most central therapeutic factor (Burlingame, Strauss & Joyce, 2013).

Auteurs

What do group therapists do ? Theory and practice of group treatment

Haas de, W. (Willem)

 

Abstract ID

1019

Submission type

Oral only

Introductie

Whatever the therapeutic frame of reference, group therapists above all make use of the spontaneous interactions in the group. In a group that meets regularly there will develop a sense of togetherness (cohesion), and relational and interactional patterns become visible. The group will develop gradually, will go through distinct phases, and will show different group roles and develop different group norms. Besides learning from the therapist, group members mainly learn from each other; these learning experiences appear to be the result of a number of therapeutic factors. The degree to which these factors play an active role depends on the selection of group members and on the kind of group treatment. The interventions of the group therapist are aimed to influence the group processes and to facilitate the therapeutic factors. Research shows that what the therapist actually does can be divided in four types of interventions: structuring the group, facilitating verbal interaction, creating and maintaining a therapeutic emotional climate, and attributing meaning to emotions and behavior.

Auteurs

Correct application of group treatment: professional guidelines

Koks, R.W. (Rob)

 

Abstract ID

1020

Submission type

Oral only

Introductie

This year, 2018, a working group of the Dutch Society for Group Psychotherapy (NVGP) will finish editing Practice Guidelines for Group Treatment. They do so following the example of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) in 2008. Practice Guidelines formulate the minimum of quality requirements for any kind of group treatment. The aim is to support therapists to live up to the demands of ‘evidence based practice’, and thereby to help guarantee and enhance the quality of the psychotherapeutic treatment in a group format. In this presentation the basic principles of the Practice Guidelines for group treatment will be presented. First, the guidelines are based on the actual state of research on groups and group treatment. Second, the theory of group dynamics, as a systematic description of group processes, forms the basis of every group treatment. Third, for a large part the success of group therapy depends on the correct way of combining a strong (preferably evidence based) method with the functional use of group processes.

Auteurs