The Virtual Group Therapy Circle

This book provides group therapists and counselors with the necessary knowledge and help to develop their skills in effectively conducting online groups. Group therapy represents the most efficient utilization of the scarce resource of mental health interventions. Online settings dramatically increase the dissemination of this approach. This book identifies the diverse challenges and suggests solutions in remote group therapy for specific therapeutic approaches such as psychodynamic, relational, psychodrama, CBT, ACT, and group supervision. The contributing authors explore specific issues that anyone who conducts groups online should be aware of. Using a group therapy lens, this book develops further the ideas and areas explored in the authors’ previous books Theory and Practice of Online Therapy and Advances in Online Therapy.

The subject of THE COUCH AND THE CIRCLE is the Third Psychiatric Revolution, or Group Therapy. Once looked down upon by orthodox psychiatrists, group therapy has recently become the founding work for encounter groups, marathon sessions and sensitivity training. In this book. Dr. Hyman Spotnitz deftly sketches and elucidates all of its varied methods—analytic therapy, psycho-drama, family counselling, non-directive counselling and activity therapy. He writes in intimate detail about one of his groups—its dramas, taboos and troubles, its sudden revelations and meaningful silences, its moments of love and raging hate, and its triumphs when individuals find themselves ready to leave. “... an authority on group psychotherapy, writes simply and clearly. The result is a frank, easily understandable account...”—NEW YORK TIMES “Highly readable and readily understandable. Recommended...”—LIBRARY JOURNAL “...an excellent demonstration of the therapeutic technique...”—KIRKUS REVIEW

Recipient of the 2017 Anne Alonso Award for Excellence in Psychodynamic Group Therapy, conferred by the Group Foundation for Advancing Mental Health, part of the American Group Psychotherapy Association. From the Couch to the Circle: Group-Analytic Psychotherapy in Practice is a handbook of group therapy and a guide to the group-analytic model - the prevailing form of group therapy in Europe. The book draws on both John Schlapobersky’s engagement as a practitioner and the words and experience of people in groups as they face psychotherapy’s key challenges - understanding and change. This book provides a manual of practice for therapists’ use that includes detailed descriptions of groups at work; accounts of therapists’ own experience and the issues they face in themselves and in their groups. The book is devoted to the Group-Analytic model but the other principally psychodynamic models of group therapy - the Tavistock, Interpersonal, Psychodynamic, Modern Analytic and Structural/Systemic models - are brought into a comparative discussion and drawn upon to create an integrated and coherent approach. The book is divided into three sections: Foundations – aimed at practitioners using groups of any kind and working at every level, including those providing supportive psychotherapy and providing groups for psychosis, trauma, the elderly, people at risk, the elderly and children; The Group-Analytic Model – defines the group-analytic model at a basic and advanced level; The Dynamics of Change – aimed at group analysts, psychotherapists and psychologists providing short-term psychotherapy and long-term group analysis The book is illustrated with clinical vignettes including incisive, instructive commentaries to explain the concepts in use. It is intended for those seeking psychotherapy, whether to resolve personal problems or to find new sources of meaning in their lives. It is also intended for policy-makers in mental health, students of different models of psychotherapy and the psychosocial field. The comparative discussion running through the text about methods and models of practice will likely be of interest to the wider mental health and psychotherapy fields. The author draws together the inherited wisdom of group analysis since Foulkes’ time and makes his own lasting contribution. From the Couch to the Circle will be an invaluable, accessible resource for psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, psychologists, family therapists, academics, psychologists, mental health practitioners, academics and teachers in psychotherapy.

This book has been prepared to guide online group therapy applications that have gained momentum due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Acting with the knowledge that surely online group therapies are not to here to replace group therapies in face-to-face settings; and inspired by Jacob Levy Moreno, we have compiled this book trusting in group thera- pists’ ability in times of crisis to mobilize their creativ- ity and spontaneity for the benefit of society. One of the main goals of this book is to think to- gether with our colleagues on how the depth and au- thentic encounters captured in the group circle can be rendered possible in environments limited to screens. A related goal is to create a framework for ethical principles and to adapt the basic principles and sensi- tivities of group therapies to online settings. We hope that online group therapies can help us to work on the common processes we are experiencing, to find healing within the group, and to remind us that we are part of a whole enriched with social relationships. To be or not to be! We need to acknowledge the existence of this method which functions, responds to needs and carries the spirit of unity and togetherness in addition and beyond soli- darity. We will seek to adapt and survive by taking up cues from this guidebook, reconciling our own terms with the terms of this method.

Group work often presents the therapist with many situations, considerations, and, ultimately, decisions that are unique to the practice of group psychotherapy. Until now, there has been little guidance available to either the inexperienced therapist or seasoned clinician in the existing literature that addresses these complex situations. "Complex Dilemmas in Group Therapy "is a collection of the work of over 25 experienced and respected group therapists, and is edited by two leading thinkers and practitioners in the field. The book owes a debt of inspiration to a regular article appearing in "The Group Circle, ""Consultation, Please, " in which a letter from a practicing group therapist is followed by the responses of two practitioners, each offering a 'solution' to the situation described. "Complex Dilemmas "will expand upon this well-received formula, grouping situations together into themes, examining underlying theory and discussing how ideas about the particular topic have changed over time. The book will be divided into seven sections, each covering a specific theme such as boundaries, enactments, projective identification, powerful therapist reactions, destructive forces in group, difficult patients, and time-limited groups. Each section will present three complex dilemmas, each of which will be followed by a response from two different clinicians. The dilemmas presented will range from common issues confronted to a more atypical dilemma, to an extreme example of a dilemma, appealing to group therapists of varying expertise.

This book provides a practical and research-based exploration of virtual art psychotherapy, and how its innovations are breaking new ground in the mental health field. With seventeen chapters authored by leaders documenting their research on creative arts therapies online, along with findings from the Virtual Art Therapy Clinic, this volume presents examples, strategies, and experiences delivering arts-based therapeutic services and online education. Clinical practice examples support and provide evidence for the transition from in-person to virtual sessions. By combining the collected expertise of all the contributing authors, this book encourages art therapists to support further growth in the field of virtual art therapy.

Counseling Psychology, one of the original specialties recognized in the profession of psychology, centers on and promotes clients' personal strengths during times of developmental transition or personal challenge and crisis. This tradition has led the discipline to excellence in areas such as improving vocational decision making and understanding client response during counseling. More recently, this tradition has been applied in new and exciting areas, such as understanding the role of multicultural factors among persons and society, responding to crises in life such as health threats and disasters, and enhancement of social justice in systems and communities. The Oxford Handbook of Counseling Psychology comprises chapters, all written by expert contributors, in four sections: foundations of the specialty; contextual variables such as ethnicity and social class; applications across individual, couple, family and group populations; and intersections of the specialty with new targets of client or context. Each chapter reviews the history of research, theory and application; analyzes current directions, and sets an agenda for the close future, again in theory, research and application. The handbook is a comprehensive and well written survey of many of psychology's domains of growing interest to students, professionals, and the public.