group therapy

An intervention strategy for helping individuals who have emotional disorders or social maladjustment problems by bringing together two or more individuals under the direction of a social worker or other professional therapist. The individuals are asked to share their problems with other members of the group, discuss ways to resolve their problems, exchange information and views about resources and techniques for solving the problem, and share emotional experiences in a controlled (by the professional) setting that enables the members to work through their difficulties. A typical format in group therapy is to have six to eight members meet with a professional therapist in a facility provided by the therapist for 90 minutes once each week. Among the many variations of group therapy are closed group and open group. Group therapy is a format used by practitioners of many orientations, including behaviorism, transactional analysis (TA), family therapy, gestalt therapy, and psychoanalysis. See also sensitivity group and marathon group.