Interactions in Therapy Groups as a Function of Differences among Therapists and Group Size

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Abstract
Five open therapy groups, ranging in size from 4 to 6 patient members, and headed by different therapists with similar group-centered orientations to group psychotherapy, were compared on measures of patient and therapist verbal response frequencies. Only one of the therapists had much experience in conducting group therapy. The verbal response frequencies were recorded by co-therapists who otherwise took no part in the sessions. All the patients were assigned to the open groups in a strictly random manner. It was found that the patient-with-therapist and the patient-with-patient verbal interactions varied significantly among the groups headed by the different therapists. The group conducted by the most experienced therapist had the highest number of patient-with-patient interactions while the number of his own interactions with patients was about average. No consistent relationship was found between the number of therapist-with-patient and patient-with-patient interactions. Analysis of the effects of group size on interactions suggested that the number of patient-with-patient interactions increased with an increase in group size, but this trend was inconsistent over groups. Group size bore no relationship to the number of patient-with-therapist interactions. It was concluded that highly unique patterns of group interaction can develop in different groups, and that the factors which influence them are at present still largely unknown. The present results discourage generalizations about group interactions from research limited to one observer or one group of patients.

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