A critical assessment of the efficacy of women's groups.

Huston, Kathleen

doi:10.1037/h0085610

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Many of these abbreviated interventions will be homogeneously composed, symptom-oriented groups. Indeed, the literature is already witnessing a broad spectrum of such groups designed to help patients with such diverse conditions as anxiety disorders (Galloucis & Kaufman, 1988), bereavement (Lieberman, 1990), bulimia (Oesterheld, McHenna & Gould, 1987), depression (Lewinsohn & Clarke, 1984), and schizophrenia (Kanas, 1991) and to enhance the coping skills of such nonpatient groups as women (Huston, 1986), the elderly (Leszcz, 1990), individuals in midlife career change (Zimpfer & Carr, 1989), visually impaired people (Johnson, 1989), and family caregivers (Toseland & Rossiter, 1989). Many of these short-term models are the direct consequence of evaluative studies that have created "treatment manuals" to operationalize the process of group interventions ( e.g ., Lewinsohn & Clarke, 1984; Mandell et al, 1989).…”

Section: The Application Of Group Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The future of group therapy.

Dies¹

1992

Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training

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Section: The Application Of Group Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The future of group therapy.

Dies¹

1992

Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training

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“…Walker (1981) reviewed the literature and concluded that women's groups have a unique identity and are different in structure, process, and outcome from mixedgendered groups. Huston (1986) reviewed the literature on women's groups by critiquing Walker's conclusions and found that many of the articles that Walker cited as being based on empirical research studies were, in fact, not research based. Furthermore, many of the other research studies cited were found to have methodological problems.…”

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confidence: 99%

Researching Women's Groups: Findings, Limitations, and Recommendations

Leech

Kees

2005

Journal of Counseling &Amp; Development

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There is not a "typical" women's group, nor are there "typical" women's issues. Every women's group is diverse, with as many viewpoints and perspectives as there are members in the group. Using the group format for women is common practice with many counselors. It is interesting that there has been little empirical research reported on women's groups, how women's groups function, or what useful techniques are used in successful women's groups. Indeed, there is a dearth of empirical research on women's groups. Although there are many articles available that describe women's groups with various populations and issues (e.g., Brody, 1996;Comas-Diaz, 1986;Tlakula, 1998) or discuss strategies for use with women in groups (e.g., Boudin, 1998;Green, 1991;Rife, 1997), there are very few articles written that report empirical research on the effectiveness of women's groups.There have been a handful of articles written that discuss this deficiency. In 1978, Nassi and Abramowitz located only nine published articles on women's groups. They concluded that this "relative paucity of research . . . does not appear to be merely the result of a normal time lag between social phenomenon and scholarly notice" (p. 154). They go on to state that this scarcity might exist from the "'masculine bias' that is embedded in all such institutions" (p. 155) and thus is embedded in research.Walker (1981) reviewed the literature and concluded that women's groups have a unique identity and are different in structure, process, and outcome from mixedgendered groups. Huston (1986) reviewed the literature on women's groups by critiquing Walker's conclusions and found that many of the articles that Walker cited as being based on empirical research studies were, in fact, not research based. Furthermore, many of the other research studies cited were found to have methodological problems. Huston concluded that "very little" (p. 289) can be concluded from the research. In addition, Huston stated, "feminists must move from presenting theory alone to validating their theoretical positions" (p. 290) by doing and reporting empirical research.Hoshmand (2003), in the recently published Handbook on Counseling Women, has declared a "sense of discovery about women as a relatively underresearched population" (p. 548). Hoshmand goes on to state that "there is an urgent need to develop research protocols that are both clinically and culturally sensitive" (p. 552). One of the major foci of the chapter is the importance of using qualitative inquiry and action research when researching women and women's issues. Based on this continued dearth of empirical research on women's groups, the purpose of this article is to report the current state of published research on women's groups and provide recommendations for future research in this area. MethodTo assess the current state of research on women's groups, a search of the literature was completed. Two major search engines (PsycINFO and ERIC) were used to find articles. With these search engines, the key words women and rese...

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Feminism and Group Psychotherapy: An Ethical Responsibility

Lazerson

1992

International Journal of Group Psychotherapy

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In response to Martin Lakin's (1991) IJGP article, "Some Ethical Issues in Feminist-Oriented Therapy Groups for Women," this article examines recent developments in feminist theory and proposes that a feminist perspective is both ethical and can make significant contributions to the practice of group psychotherapy. The overview of feminist theory focuses on (1) the importance of the social context, (2) contributions and challenges to psychoanalytic and developmental theory, (3) attention to power relations, (4) the connection between the personal and political, and (5) recognition and integration of diversity and difference. Clinical examples illustrate ways in which male and female group therapists can take a feminist perspective and become "ethical advocates."

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A critical assessment of the efficacy of women's groups.

Cited by 7 publications

References 35 publications

The future of group therapy.

The future of group therapy.

Researching Women's Groups: Findings, Limitations, and Recommendations

Feminism and Group Psychotherapy: An Ethical Responsibility

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