The making of a group psychotherapist: Needs and goals for graduate and postgraduate training

Course design: an integration of didactic and experiential approaches to graduate training of group therapy

Graduate training programs attempt to teach group therapy courses using experiential learning methods and theoretical concepts. Presently, however, these courses often maintain a rather unstructured format for fostering an experiential group process. The literature suggests that without standardized course objectives, students are vulnerable to harm and inadequately prepared for professional demands, and faculty are insufficiently prepared with guidelines for instruction. This article reviews the historical evolution of experiential courses, raises questions about the ethical integrity of such courses in their current form, and proposes a new course design that integrates essential components of learning theory. Standards for integrating a developmental approach to learning, beginning with didactic tasks and advancing to more experiential tasks, more effectively uphold ethical principles, provide an outline for comprehensive instruction, and enhance student learning.

Group therapy as an effective treatment modality for people of color

The unique benefits for group therapy are examined with special emphasis on the treatment of blacks and Latinos. Because of racial prejudice, economic exploitation, and negative stereotypes, group forces have been especially detrimental to the personality development of people of color. The group therapist attempts to harness these powerful group forces and use them therapeutically, thus enabling people of color to relate better to others while retaining their own autonomy. Racial differences can intensely affect diagnosis, transference, countertransference, and the "real relationship." Distinctions between cultural and functional paranoia are particularly relevant in interracial groups. Implications for training group therapists are also explored.