Giving thanks together: A preliminary evaluation of the Gratitude Group Program.

Abstract

Despite mounting interest in the psychology of gratitude, scholarship on the clinical applications of gratitude to psychotherapy has been fairly limited. Therefore, the aims of this article are to describe the Gratitude Group Program, the first known therapeutic model to focus on the cultivation of gratitude as its core goal, as well as to provide preliminary evidence for its effectiveness. Grounded primarily in positive psychology, but also in an assimilative integration of cognitive-behavioral, existential, narrative, and interpersonal perspectives, the Gratitude Group Program is a psychoeducation therapeutic group intervention that addresses diverse facets of gratitude. Evidence from a preliminary, one-group, prepost design study showed a significant and clinically meaningful decrease in psychological distress and increase in state gratitude, satisfaction with life, and meaning in life among college students who participated in the group program. Moreover, the effect sizes for decreases in psychological distress at the conclusion of the group program (d ϭ 1.19) and 30 days later (d ϭ 1.37) are comparable to that found in previous research on psychotherapy in university counseling centers. The practical implications of these findings are discussed. Clinical Impact StatementThis study suggests that participation in a brief psychoeducational group program that focuses on cultivating gratitude may improve people's mental health. At the end of five group sessions (1.5 hr per session), college students reported decreased psychological distress and increased gratitude, satisfaction with life, and meaning in life.

Gratitude Cognitive Behavior Therapy (G-CBT) to Reduce College Students’ Academic Stress

“…The reduction in academic stress on the experimental group occurred following the intervention of the Gratitude Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (G-CBT). This finding supports research from Wong, Blackwell, Mitts, and Gabana (2017) who found that gratitude interventions can reduce a person's stress. Study by McCraty, Barrios-Choplin, Rozman, Atkinson, and Watkins (1998) also showed that gratitude interventions reduce stress and that this is marked by reductions in the stress hormone cortisol and heart rate variability.…”

Religious/Spiritual Struggles and Life Satisfaction among Young Roman Catholics: The Mediating Role of Gratitude

“…Therefore, gratitude seems to be a powerful resilience factor that may help individuals to deal with various forms of crises. A recent report by Wong and colleagues (Wong et al 2017) confirmed that participants in the Gratitude Group Program showed a significant and clinically meaningful decrease in psychological distress. Hence, gratitude helps people to take up a perspective by which they can view life in its wholeness and are not overwhelmed by difficult conditions.…”

Using Gratitude to Promote Sport Injury–Related Growth

“…Lambert et al, 2010;O'Connell, O'Shea, & Gallagher, 2017). Considering gratitude has a strong prosocial, interpersonal focus (Emmons & Mishra, 2011), it makes sense for gratitude to be practiced in vivo with other people (Wong, Blackwell, Mitts, Gabana, & Li, 2017).…”