Group Counseling

The History of Group Practice: A Century of Knowledge

“…The work of Stotsky and Zolik (1965) suggested that group therapy was an adequate adjunct to individual and/or psychopharmacological therapy, although their findings were far from enthusiastic. Mann (1966) and Anderson (1968) independently concluded in their reviews that groups do work; but each of these authors emphasized the nature of the reviews. Mann had used 11 of the studies reviewed by Rickard in 1962, when he examined a total of 40 "diversely conceived and executed studies" (Fuhriman & Burlingame, 1994).…”

“…One of the most robust findings of these studies found ways to tease apart effects from several lugubrious sources, with the conclusion that combined group and individual therapy resulted in superior outcomes when compared with the independent outcomes of either treatment alone (Amaranto & Bender, 1990;Bostwick, 1987;Freeman & Munro, 1988;Pattison, Brissenden, & Wohl, 1967), although there were dissenting opinions (cf. Anderson, 1968;Stotsky & Zolik, 1965).…”