Individual vs Group Psychotherapy
Posted by Joe Doherty on Fri, Jan 28, 2011 @ 08:31 AM
Let's say you, or someone you know, is looking to get into therapy. What mode of treatment, individual or group, do you think would be chosen? If the research has it right you or your friend would choose individual therapy.
There have been many studies on the treatment efficacy of individual vs group therapy and what has been shown is that there are no significant differences between the two. However, what has been shown is that people have a strong preference for individual over group treatment. Why? The main reason is that the thought of being in a group makes people anxious. (The main fear of an individual entering a group is "Will they accept me?").
In one study some students seeking help at a college counseling center were told they would be in individual treatment while others were told they'd be in a group. A very high percentage of those told they'd be seeing an individual therapist showed up for their first appointment. Conversely, a very low percentage of those told they were being referred to group showed for their first appointment.
Irvin Yalom, M.D., one of the country's top experts on group therapy, felt so strongly about the efficacy of groups that when he was the Director of a large university counseling center he only offered group therapy to students seeking help.
There are many benefits to group and one of them is that you get input from other group members, your peers, which often times makes what is said more acceptable, as opposed to individual therapy where input only comes from the therapist. Some other identified therapeutic factors are groups instill hope, they impart information, the group member feels less isolated and one gets to imitate behavior.
Another important therpeutic factor is that of universality. To quote Dr. Yalom: "Many individuals enter therapy with the disquieting thought that they are unique in their wretchedness, that they alone have certain frightening or unacceptable problems, thoughts, impulses and fantasies.....In the therapy group, especially in the early stages, the disconfirmation of a client's feelings of uniqueness is a powerful source of relief." Having lead sex offender groups for many years I have seen evidence of this factor at work and, I have to tell you, it's powerful! It's probably one of the reasons I have a bias toward group treatment as opposed to individual treatment.
What are your thoughts, feelings, reactions, maybe even experiences, of individual vs group therapy?