Brief group-based psychological treatments are a common tool for increasing service access. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills groups have been used with several clinical populations to improve emotional regulation. This research aimed to examine the effectiveness of DBT-informed classes across four treatment settings in reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation, as well as examining participant factors associated with treatment responsiveness and class dropout. A total of 315 participants completed pre-post measures as a part of standard clinical care. Linear mixed model analyses showed that participants who completed DBT-informed classes experienced significant reductions in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation. Only an individual's baseline DSM-5 score significantly predicted responsiveness to treatment in terms of decreasing symptoms of anxiety, depression, and emotional dysregulation.

Group size is a consideration for all psychotherapy groups, yet the topic has been subject to surprisingly few empirical investigations. This review explored the influence of group size within group psychotherapy by investigating its associations with cohesion and clinical outcomes. Significant group-size associations were found in seven of the 17 included individual and meta-analysis studies (combined N = 21,425), pointing to partial support for the influence of group size. Some interesting tentative trends were identified, such as potentially better outcomes in smaller groups and greater group-size influence in process-orientated groups. Considerably more research is needed, as psychotherapy group-size decisions should ideally be informed by empirical evidence rather than by relying on clinical opinion, conventional wisdom, and recommendations made by influential commentators.

Group therapists who experience a serious illness like cancer must navigate several dynamic processes and questions about how to proceed in the best interest of the group. Not much is written on this topic regarding group therapy, so group clinicians have little guidance to understand the underlying dynamics that might help them make the most informed decisions. In this article, I discuss my cancer diagnosis, which required my leaving a psychodynamic process group that I led for almost a decade. I review key dynamic processes that emerged in my final group sessions and present clinical vignettes to illustrate these processes. Dynamic issues that were most relevant had to do with the impact on the therapist of narcissistic injury from a medical diagnosis and the timing, extent, and appropriateness of self-disclosure to the group. Therapist countertransference manifestations included focusing on the self rather than the group, being too bold with complex interpretations, and feeling some relief at no longer having to contain the group's complex and opposing needs. Self-reflection, consultations with trusted colleagues, and discussions with co-therapists can help a group therapist identify and tolerate the inevitable partial countertransference enactments. A group therapist's genuine self-disclosure that is as free as possible of countertransference manifestations and the therapist's modeling of self-reflective capacities go a long way to helping groups make the most of their experience when a group therapist is ill.

Jungian analytical psychology and group theories can mutually benefit and cross-fertilize each other. When incorporating Jungian ideas into group theory, the result enhances the way we can explore and understand projections. Encouraging the exploration of dreams that group members have about each other makes unconscious connections in the group accessible and can be expressed in group dialogue. A group is an ideal place for holding the tension of opposites within oneself as well as in projections onto others. The Jungian approach can help us explore group members' main conflicts and entrenched patterns of relating, and guide them in self-reflection and resolving the patterns that act as obstacles to healing. This process eases polarization and encourages individuation, group members' journey toward wholeness.

Social connectedness is a fundamental human need that is thwarted by chronic loneliness. The therapeutic application of role-playing games (TA-RPG) has the potential to promote social connection and flourishing by providing opportunities to work on mental health through immersive, collaborative storytelling. The purpose of this discussion is to describe the pilot implementation and evaluation of a TA-RPG group at VA medical center. Four group cycles were conducted over 18 months. Sixty-five percent of those who initiated the group completed treatment, attending an average of 11 out of 12 sessions. Qualitative analyses identified themes of perceived benefit and impactful group processes. Participants reported a high degree of satisfaction. These preliminary findings suggest that TA-RPGs may be a viable and engaging group therapy approach for fostering connection.

This study examines the group's efficacy by focusing on 13 men's responses to an integrative treatment that incorporates cognitive-behavioral, feminist, the stages of change, and positive psychological approaches during an eight-week group intervention in Türkiye. Researchers also evaluated the group's impact on members' anger management and the quality of their marital relationships. Data collected through detailed group session notes by the observer and interviews with the men before and after the program were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results revealed that building group cohesion and trust increased members' disclosures and engagement in group practices. The anger management program also helped them reduce their anger outbursts and express their feelings more appropriately. Finally, the participants stated that their empathy, emotion regulation, and problem-solving skills improved after the group sessions, improving their relationships with their wives and children.

The authors present a case study on the development of an anti-Asian racism support group titled, The study covers the formation and conceptualization process and formative feedback garnered from a field test of the intervention. The group grew out of the need for not only interventions to support individuals of Asian ancestral heritage in dealing with the ongoing effects of racism in North America, but also out of a need to provide culturally relevant counseling processes for and by members of the Asian diaspora in North America. Community-engaged scholarship formed the foundation for the intervention formation and subsequent delivery of the online field test version of the program. Findings illustrate preliminary support for this group program and highlight areas for enhancement. Implications for practice and future deliveries are discussed.

The Clinical Practice Guidelines for Group Psychotherapy are a scholarly, compelling, and comprehensive guide for group therapists committed to the treatment of individuals seeking group therapy. Evidenced-based practice guidelines that foster best clinical practice and research are the main gateway in advancing the group therapy discipline to the forefront of the mental health field. My objectives in writing this commentary on the 2006 AGPA practice guidelines include: 1) emphasize the importance of group practitioners reading them to enhance their practices; 2) examine areas of the guidelines that are relevant today and address contemporary topics that could be incorporated into the revised AGPA clinical practice guidelines for group psychotherapy.

Using the philosophy of Ubuntu (I am because we are), a grant-funded group for African American, inner-city youth between the ages of 14 and 18 was implemented and studied. Five group members participated in the six-week blended model group intervention that culminated in an agreed-upon social justice project. During sessions, participants discussed issues in five main areas: school, home, community, friendships, and internal issues. Through an advocacy-oriented and culture-centered lens, the format of the six-week group is provided along with recommendations for school counselors and mental health counselors working with African American adolescents in under-resourced communities.

Ethical issues can arise in dealing with diversity when practicing group psychotherapy. In this paper, a case is presented of a therapist-in-training who is attempting to determine whether a particular psychotherapy group composed exclusively of heterosexual males would be an appropriate and effective treatment venue for a gay male; the clinical vignette is designed to illustrate a process of ethical and culturally competent decision making. The discussion of this vignette articulates the multiple steps through which the group psychotherapist must proceed to successfully resolve ethical dilemmas that are related to diversity.

The author discusses how subgroups represent the basic focus of the systems-centered group therapist. Particular attention is given to boundary issues and to how therapy takes place by facilitating the process of discriminating, communicating, and integrating perception of differences in the apparently similar and similarities in the seemingly different. Communication occurs at the boundaries between systems at all levels of the hierarchy: the group, the subgroup, and its members. Clinical vignettes are provided to illustrate important process issues, such as work with difficult patients, levels of intervention, and group resistance and defense.

Written from the perspective of inter-subjective theory, this article addresses how the leader and group members co-construct the difficult patient. Too often, therapists and patients have tended to attribute difficulties in therapy groups to "the difficult patient" without appreciating how they themselves contribute to the construction, the needs this construction serves, and the potential value of such patients to the group. Mistakes in group leadership, vicissitudes of inter subjectivity, disturbing intra-psychic defenses, and while-group dynamics interact to produce the difficult patient. Also discussed is the group member who is difficult but who no longer meets the criteria for patient-hood. By exploring the factors involved in the co-construction of the difficult patient, the authors hope to guide clinicians in the deconstruction of such impediments, thus allowing the difficult patient to become "just another group patient."

This article was selected for commentary as one of the most influential articles published in the International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, as part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the journal. The commentary describes the key elements in selected article, regarding early attention to a clinical focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Using a very accessible clinical challenge, he addresses the ethical requirement for clinicians to ensure they develop the skills necessary to treat a broad range of individuals, for whom identity is a cornerstone of their pursuit of treatment. This is well-accepted practice today, but as the commentary describes, it was very innovative at the time of its initial publication.

The article by J. Dugo and A. Beck, "A therapist's guide to issues of intimacy and hostility viewed as group-level phenomena" (1984), International Journal of Group Psychotherapy 34, 1, 25-45, was reviewed to determine its applicability to current clinical practice and for instructions and training for leaders of psychotherapy groups. The authors write from the psychoanalytic perspective to propose four leader roles for differing group phases and describe the impact of each leader type on the functioning of the group, the leader, and the group members. Central to the thesis for the article are the perception and importance of the group as a whole as an entity. The commentary also addresses implications across identities, research implications and needs, and the impact on the commentary author.