Delivering the Treatment so That the Therapy Occurs: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Time-Limited, Manualized Group Treatments

ABSTRACT

Group therapy has been shown to be effective for treating a variety of problems, across particular treatment approaches. However, interesting questions about how group therapy helps people persist, given that little variance in client outcomes has been found to be attributable to the particular brand of therapy or treatment protocol. At the same time, treatments that are both empirically supported and efficient are in demand. Therefore, the present article reviews research related to transtheoretical constructs that can be applied to enhance the effectiveness of any short-term, manualized group therapy treatment. Specifically, research related to group therapy effectiveness, common or therapeutic factors models, group stage development theory, key interpersonal processes, and constructs from the multicultural competency literature are reviewed. Examples of how these principles might be applied in practice to a specific therapy group are also provided.

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Notes on contributors

Jill D. Paquin

Jill D. Paquin is an Assistant Professor in the graduate programs of counseling psychology at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.