Group Therapy With Schizophrenics: A Review of Controlled Studies

Kanas, Nick

doi:10.1080/00207284.1986.11490907

Cited by 61 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Kansas (1986) reviewed 43 controlled studies of the use of group therapy in schizophrenia and concluded that it has a positive effect on a range of outcome measures. Interpretations that reveal or explore unconscious conflicts have been shown to be generally unhelpful, but an emphasis on feedback and support increases an atmosphere of connectedness and cohesion within the group, which aids interpersonal learning (Kapur, 1993).…”

Section: Is Group Therapy Effective ?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of dynamic group therapy in psychiatry

Montgomery¹

2002

Adv. psychiatr. treat

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Group psychotherapy is one of the most widely practised treatment methods in psychiatry, with an extensive literature, but it has long been regarded as the poor relation to individual therapy. Nineteenth-century ideas about the primacy of the individual, taken up by psychoanalysis, continue to dominate Western culture. Mrs Thatcher's famous remark “I don't believe in society. There is no such thing, only individual people, and there are families” (Women's Own, 31 October 1987) typifies the extreme view in which the self and the individual's needs are paramount and are set above those of the group. Foulkes in the 1950s had put forward the opposite position, arguing that there is no such thing as an individual that exists apart from and outside the social (Foulkes, 1948; Foulkes & Anthony, 1957).

show abstract

Section: Is Group Therapy Effective ?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of dynamic group therapy in psychiatry

Montgomery¹

2002

Adv. psychiatr. treat

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…At present, too few studies are available to test the effectiveness of group treatments as compared to individual treatments for each psychotherapeutic treatment of schizophrenia [22]. Furthermore, whilst attempts have been made to summarise findings from controlled trials exploring the effectiveness of group psychotherapeutic treatments for schizophrenia [8,22,24,25], the conclusions from these studies are limited in scope. For example, the most recent attempt by Segredou et al [8] does not include evidence from non-verbal creative group arts therapies (including music therapy, body psychotherapy and art therapy), which have been shown to be effective in reducing negative symptoms [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, we aimed to explore which group characteristics contribute to any potential group effect. In particular, we considered the therapeutic orientation, number of sessions/length of intervention [22] and/or diagnostic homogeneity [7] as potentially important factors for the impact of group psychotherapeutic treatments [8,24]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Group Psychotherapeutic Treatments Effective for Patients with Schizophrenia? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Orfanos

Banks

Priebe

2015

Psychother Psychosom

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Different psychotherapeutic treatments for schizophrenia are delivered in groups. However, little is known about the effectiveness of these group therapies for people with schizophrenia across different treatments with varying therapeutic orientations. This review aimed to (1) estimate the effect of different group psychotherapeutic treatments for schizophrenia and (2) explore whether any overall ‘group effect' is moderated by treatment intensity, diagnostic homogeneity and therapeutic orientation. Methods: A systematic search of randomised controlled trials exploring the effectiveness of group psychotherapeutic treatments for people with schizophrenia was conducted. Random-effect meta-analyses on endpoint symptom scores compared group psychotherapeutic treatments with treatment as usual and active sham groups. Findings on social functioning were described narratively, and meta-regression analyses on group characteristics were carried out. Results: Thirty-four eligible trials were included. A weak-to-moderate significant between-group difference in favour of group psychotherapeutic treatments was found for negative symptom scores (standard mean difference = -0.37, 95% confidence interval -0.60, -0.14; p < 0.01, I² = 59.8%) only when compared to treatment as usual and not to active sham groups. Improved social functioning was reported as a treatment outcome in the majority of studies compared to treatment as usual. The ‘group effect' on negative symptoms was positively related to ‘treatment intensity' (β = 0.32, standard error = 0.121; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Group psychotherapeutic treatments can improve negative symptoms and social functioning deficits in the treatment of schizophrenia. The effect occurs across different treatments and appears to be non-specific. Future research should identify the underlying mechanisms for the positive effect of participating in groups and explore how they can be maximised to increase the therapeutic benefit.

show abstract

“…Over time, psychodynamic group psychotherapy has played a role in the treatment of psychosis (Chazan 1993), although little evidence has been produced to support its effectiveness. Overall evidence suggests that group psychotherapy could be a useful tool alongside medication (de Bosset 1991) and that focusing on present emotions and interactions is more beneficial than uncovering unconscious feelings (Kanas 1986(Kanas , 1996. Individuals suffering from chronic psychosis in the community often face significant social isolation (Reininghaus 2008).…”

Section: Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individuals suffering from chronic psychosis in the community often face significant social isolation (Reininghaus 2008). Group psychotherapy can offer these people a space to share personal experiences and an opportunity to mutually observe and reflect on emotions, thoughts and feelings (Kanas 1996;de Chavez 2000 (Maxmen 1973;Kanas 1986;Yalom 1983;de Chavez 2000). It has been suggested that, in a group, psychotic transference can be less intense because the patient has the opportunity to see the therapist as a real person and thus emotion can be dealt with and explored more safely (Gabrovsek 2009).…”

Section: Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Community-based psychodynamic group psychotherapy for treatment-resistant schizophrenia

Aiello

Ahmad

2014

Adv. psychiatr. treat

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummaryWe describe the work of a psychodynamic psychotherapy group for individuals affected by chronic schizophrenia in our community-based rehabilitation and recovery service. Despite presenting with negative symptoms, over time patients made good use of the psychodynamic setting: they attended, expressed emotions, made connections and reflected within the group on their personal experience of mental ill health. We discuss the rationale and indications for psychodynamic psychotherapy for individuals with severe and enduring mental illnesses. We also reflect on the challenges we faced working psychodynamically with psychosis and on the necessary adaptation of the approach to work with chronic psychosis. We present vignettes from group sessions to illustrate themes that we identified in the therapy, making links with the literature. We conclude that the unstructured setting of the psychodynamic group approach can help individuals affected by most severe forms of psychosis to make sense of their experiences and use the space.Learning Objectives•Understand the rationale for psychodynamic group interventions for psychosis.•Understand what adaptations of psychodynamic approaches are necessary to work with patients with psychosis.•Change attitudes toward offering psychodynamic interventions for psychosis.

show abstract

Group Therapy With Schizophrenics: A Review of Controlled Studies

Cited by 61 publications

References 38 publications

Role of dynamic group therapy in psychiatry

Role of dynamic group therapy in psychiatry

Are Group Psychotherapeutic Treatments Effective for Patients with Schizophrenia? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Community-based psychodynamic group psychotherapy for treatment-resistant schizophrenia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About