Measurement of group dynamics

Decades of research, including more than 50 clinical trials, have shown that group therapy is as effective as individual therapy for many conditions, including depression, obesity and social anxiety. Partly as a result of that research, demand for group therapy is up, and many new psychologists are being asked to lead groups in hospital and community mental health settings. Yet the ability to run therapy groups is a special skill. In fact, APA’s “Group therapy isn’t just individual therapy in a group,” says Martyn Whittingham, PhD, an Ohio counseling psychologist and president of Unfortunately, many psychologists receive little training in the area. “In most graduate programs, group therapy is an elective course, so it’s possible for students to graduate without knowing anything about group dynamics or group therapy, and take a job where they’re running groups,” says George Washington University psychology professor Cheri Marmarosh, PhD, Div. 49’s president-elect. “But without training, these students don’t know how to intervene when problems arise among members of the group, and they may not have adequate supervision. They’re just expected to go in and do it based on their individual psychotherapy training.” How can psychologists step in to provide group therapy and ensure that their leadership meets patients’ needs? Group therapy experts offer their advice: Get training. Taking a course on group therapy or group dynamics provides essential background on group development...

Abstract Group dynamics have broad and necessary applications. And there is arguably no more of a need for such than in a healthcare setting as a result of the fast-paced, high pressure, and seemingly always shifting focus from patient need within policy framework. Nonetheless, the abilities for clinicians’ to successfully interact within a multidisciplinary team is essential for patient care outcomes and effective and efficient use of system resources. This paper will review, discuss, and propose a strategic framework for team work development and improvement within a healthcare setting. Suggestions for future studies are also provided. 1. Introduction You have finally completed the exhaustive credentialing process and just joined the local hospital as the new staff psychologist or mental health clinician. An integral part of your responsibilities includes being a team leader and providing consultation within a multidisciplinary team throughout the hospital. You are tasked with providing concise and well-appropriated consultations, and you are also expected to lead with effectiveness and efficiency in a fast-paced, high stress environment. The team has yet to form. So, what do you do? 2. Overview Development of a sound strategy to identify the unique challenges, barriers, and obstacles is critical 1. You have been explicitly directed from upper management that this team will be under your direction, which may help ease (or intensify) some worry. Nonetheless, being able to...

Measurement of group dynamics is essential to understand the behaviour of a group as a whole as well an individuals who make up the group. There are many scales to measure group dynamics, viz., Group Climate Questionnaire (Mackenzie, 1983), Group Cohesiveness Scale (Budman, 1993), Group Work Engagement Measure (Macgowan, 2000) and Group Member Interpersonal Process Scale (Soldz, 1993). Task groups, such as committees, teams, board of directors are not merely collections of individuals. The synergy that is created when people come together to work in these groups transcends the collection of individual efforts. We have to pay attention to group dynamics because group dynamics facilitate member participation and satisfaction to achieve the group goal.

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice publishes original empirical articles, theoretical analyses, literature reviews, and brief reports dealing with basic and applied topics in the field of group research and application. The editors construe the phrase group dynamics to mean those contexts in which individuals interact in groups. The research may focus on within-group processes, group outcomes, and perception or experiences of the group processes, among other aspects of group dynamics. The journal may consider social-cognition research provided there is an explicit focus on enhancing the understanding of group dynamics (e.g., the impact of members’ perceptions of each other or process on other group variables). The journal publishes articles examining groups in a range of contexts, including ad hoc groups in experimental settings, therapy groups, naturally forming friendship groups and cliques, organizational units, self-help groups, and learning groups. Theoretically driven empirical studies of hypotheses that have implications for understanding and improving groups in organizational, educational, and therapeutic settings are particularly encouraged. Announcements • • Calls for papers • • • Editor spotlight • Featured editorial • Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice’s Editor Giorgio A. Tasca gives guidance of the journal’s expectations from submissions. (March 2020) From APA Journals Article Spotlight ® • • • Group Dynamics: Reviewing key topics in th...

Internet Editor’s Note: Dr. Derek Griner and colleagues recently published an article titled “Practice-based evidence can help! Using the Group Questionnaire to enhance clinical practice” in Psychotherapy. If you’re a member of the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy you can access the Psychotherapy article via your Not a member? Purchase the Psychotherapy article for $11.95 Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) represents a standard of practice as clinicians seek increasingly effective ways to provide therapeutic services to their clients. Comprised of three main approaches, EBP seeks to apply a structured, systematic approach to the provision of therapy through the use of empirically supported treatments, practice guidelines, and practice based evidence (Burlingame & Beecher, 2008). While each represents an aspect of EBP, differing assumptions underlie these approaches. For example, empirically-supported treatments are typically focused on therapist activity in the therapy session, and as such are dependent on the theory that underlies the approach. Practice Based Evidence (PBE), on the other hand, involves using real time client data, gathered through standardized measures, to understand and adjust the therapeutic process in a theory neutral approach. With PBE, effectiveness is measured not through adherence to an empirically-driven protocol for therapy, but rather through meaningful client data gathered through the course of therapy (Burlingame & Beecher, 2008). For t...