Customer Reviews

Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, Fifth Edition

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No lengthy explanation needed here. I am a graduate counseling psychology student with a particular interest and experience in groups. We refer to this particular Yalom book as the group therapy "bible," since it pretty much contains everything you could ever need to know about the basics of running therapy (and even support) groups. This is one of very few books I've had to read for school that I actually couldn't STOP reading--it's that good. My professor for this course has been doing groups for over 20 years and says she still refers back to this book for insight when leading her groups. Also check out Yalom's book on existential therapy! There is some case study overlap with the group book, but it's another favorite. And don't let the size of this book intimidate you. You won't be able to put it down! Yalom is the man . . . Happy reading!

This book is one that every graduate student in psychology or beginning therapist should read and have on their shelf. Yalom covers and discusses many important aspects of group therapy such as interpersonal learning, basic thearpist tasks, the idea of working in the here-and-now, therapist transference and transparency, selection of patients, creating a group, problem patients and training the group therapist. Yalom addresses this book to new therapists just starting out, as well as therapists who have been in the field for some time. Yalom presents the new therapist with the many considerations that need to be looked at when forming a group and actually leading a group and he assists the therapists who have been in the field for some time with ways in which to sharpen or improve their skills. Yalom's book appears to be based on highly functioning upper middle class individuals who seem to have good jobs and relationships with their family, friends and spouses. One may gather this assumption from the clinical vignettes and cases that Yalom presents throughout the entire book. Yalom incorporates much of his own practical experience with individuals in the groups that he has led himself, which makes his book feel like you are reading a novel and not a textbook per se. Although Yalom based his book on highly functioning upper middle class individuals, he never addressed the idea of group therapy with children or individuals of different ethnic backgrounds, which seem to be two important areas in today's society, especially within the realm of therapy. Yalom incorporates a rigorous research base within his text, such as discussing some of the current treatment modes and the diagnostic criteria for managed care, which other authors tend to maybe leave out or not touch upon, in essence leading the reader to believe that what Yalom speaks about is true, factual and practical when referring to group therapy. Although Yalom conducted an extensive amount of research on the area of managed care, I do not think it is possible for an individual to be covered by a managed health care or insurance company for a group that is conducted over a one to two year period, as Yalom presents in some of his clinical vignettes. One thing that I think Yalom has done that other authors have not is present the reader with twelve variables that he refers to as "therapeutic factors," (i.e. instillation of hope, universality, altruism, and group cohesiveness) which in essence are the driving tools and elements that assist therapy groups with rectifying individual character distortions. Yalom's book assisted our graduate psychology class in gaining an immense amount of insight and depth into the area of group therapy in such a short amount of time. Yalom's book is one that should be included in all graduate programs in psychology!

Yalom's techniques are timeless, as long as human nature and how it plays out in social interactions transcends time and place. Thus, decades after publication, this book of group therapy lives on, whereas others, more faddish, are either narrowly focused on sufferers of the "disease of the year", or, in the case of "pragmatic", short-term "manual-based" groups which insurance companies favor, assume that all one has to do is give the patient the right recipe and 8 weeks to practice it, and they'll be cured of life-long ingrained pathological behaviors.
Anyone who thinks this book is "out of touch" or demonstrates a lack of empathy by Yalom, probably has a pet style of group therapy, and an axe to grind. Often, seemingly more empathic therapists, run groups in which everyone takes turns getting sympathy, distress is "validated", whereas the patient's contribution to it is ignored, and the premise is that sufferers are misunderstood victims of a neglected disease who are finally in the hands of someone who "gets it". Usually therapists who lead such groups, don't only wish to empathize, but are driven by a wish to feed their own vision of their specialness as the champions of the underdogs.
One of Yalom's greatest contributions is the effectiveness with which he used the group approach to exactly show patients how they cause their own distress--by creating a group atmosphere in which members play out their poor social skills, and get the powerful impact of peer feedback on this. He did so in a way which demonstrated genuine empathy in action: by steering members to identify (and empathize) not only with each others' misery, but with each others' strengths. Sympathy without a kick in the [...], is patronizing, and implies inequality. Sympathy with a kick in the [...] (always best given by peers), is sympathy with belief in your power--this shows respect for all of you, your strengths and your miseries. THIS is empathy. THIS is what empowers group members to overcome their problems. And this truth, will never go out of date.

Dr. Yalom's book is not only a veritable masterpiece, but a tour de force that deals with everything you ever wanted to know about group psychotherapy.

Comprehensive without being pedantic, thorough without being dense, Dr. Yalom puts the group process under a magnifying glass and, in straightforward easy-to-understand language and conceptualization, gently guides the student through all of the subtlties and nuances of group work.

I had to purchase this book for use as the main text in a group process course, but this book will remain on my shelf long after I have taken the course. Dr. Yalom's keen insight into not just how/why groups behave and function the way they do, but also his insight into basic human nature, has made this book very enjoyable as well as educational.

Yalom's revolutionary book is essential reading for the graduate student in counseling. It provides a comprehenive guide to the group experience, form the beginning to the end, and everywhere in between. It includes how one would create a group, problems to expect and practical solutions to these problems. The book does not read as a typical textbook, but as a novel.The authors style is informative but not laden with jargon. The high readability is also due to the fact that Yalom includes real-life examples throughout the entire book. This helps the reader to apply theory to situations that will be encountered in the course of conducting group therapy. Each chapter is outlined explicitly, which helps with future referencing. The most practical knowledge gained from reading this book is the emphasis on the here and now process of group therapy. This is an aspect often overlooked by new group therapist. The explanation of group process demystifies the group experience and explains how groups are beneficial to the members participating in them. This book is also practical in that it gives an explanation of all possible pitfalls encountered in the group setting, including problem patients and attrition in the group. The author helps the reader to know what to expect and how to handle problems when they arise. While this book was an extraordinary guide to the group experience, there were a few shortcomings. First of all, the book was based on outpatient groups that Yalom led and supervised at Stanford University, which might not be applicable to all of the population. The reader is advised to take this into account when reading the book. Also, the groups were all long-term, sometimes lasting several years. In reality, this may not be a practical occurrence, as therapist may have trouble finding members that will commit themselves to such a long term group. There were two major aspects of group therapy that needed more attention in the book. First, cross cultural issues were not discussed. This is an extremely iimportant aspect of all therapy, and it was not addressed here. It is questionable that all the results presented in this book would apply to multi-cultural situations. In addition, brief therapy groups were rarely mentioned in this book. in reality, therapists will probably conduct homogeneous brief therapy groups much more often in the course of their careers. The author included a chapter on the encounter group that was popular in previous decades but is rarely used anymore. It would have been more fruitful to address the brief therapy group and omit the encoounter group. Despite these shortcomings, this book is of extreme value to the new therapist. It includes all aspects of group behaviior and answers the readers' questions before the are even asked. It should be mandatory reading material for all graduate students before they lead their first groups.

he's done it again...yalom has an amazing insight into human nature and the healing components of therapy of any modality. to fully appreciate this book, as well as his other works, you have to at least be okay with the notions of existentialism, as his conceptualization and methodologies are built on the basic premises of this theory. i have shared his works with intelligent and particularly introspective patients, and they really seem to relate to his notions. thinking outside the box is important to appreciating yalom, in my opinion, as he does not subscribe to standard cognitive-behavioral or psychodynamic notions. these are very important and useful approaches, but existentialism is a horse of a different color and encourages patients to consider themselves and the lives they are living in a different way. this book takes these important concepts and applies them to group therapy in a very practical way.

The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy is the first text I've enjoyed reading as a psychology graduate student. Other texts have been useful and have provided me with knowledge. This book did that and more, it provided vignettes that brought Yalom's statements, research findings, and observations to life. The pages became practical as well as meaningful. In the first 216 pages of this book, Yalom lays down a much needed foundation of group psychotherapy for the neophyte therapist. These pages not only build a case for group work efficacy, but it gave the reader a workable foundation upon which to build on.I enjoyed the practicality of the chapters discussing the formation of a group. From this a psychology graduate student can easily delineate what a successful group would look like, how often it would meet, for how long, and where to meet. It is self evident that Yalom has done extensive group therapy research, for he did not provide concrete information with out backing it up with research. I haven't read too many texts in which the author takes such effort to back up his/her conclusions. This book is jammed packed with practical information and techniques a graduate student as myself can utilize when beginning their first group experience. Many details are included such as getting supervision, the leader's role, techniques, and the use of audiovisual tapes. These details along with theory and vignettes create a comprehensive and palatable resource manual on how to develop and conduct an adult psychotherapy group. However, there were a couple of topics he left out. Although, Yalom clearly indicates he does not approve with the HMO movement of brief therapy, it is a reality. He indicated that he likes his groups to meet for 18 months. Neophyte therapist at internship sites and post graduate sites are dealing with HMOs, college campus psychological clinics, school based setting, etc. and this length of time is never an option. He doesn't have to agree with such time constraints, but not address them is a disservice to novice therapists. The neophyte therapist is clearly his audience in this book, thus it is important he address the audience's needs. He should know what is expected of us in our profession. What is often expected of us, is to work with clients within eight to ten sessions. I would have loved to receive practical ways of conducting and modifying his approach to fit the time constraints that I and other neophyte therapists face. I work in a school based counseling program. Many of the children are so emotionally and verbally impaired, that I do not think they would provide the group with much, if any, verbal material. I'd like to know how Yalom feels about child group work and how he'd make the preliminary preparations and conduct sessions. Children have very different capabilities and needs, and I would have liked Yalom to address them.

I have used Irvin Yalom's text for three years as a companion to a process-oriented ten week group experience for undergraduate psychology students. The students have complained of Yalom's exceptional vocabulary and historical and literary allusions, but some have apparently managed to read the parcels I've assigned and have reported appreciating the wonderful vision and breadth of Yalom's novel-like presentation.
I enjoyed this book immensely as a graduate student of counseling and have found it to be a wonderful resource. It has been very enjoyable to watch my students see Yalom's principles get played out in our demonstration group and it has been gratifying to see these forces affect my clients therapeutically even with the limitations of managed care. In fact, I would say that Yalom's existential leanings are very consistent with strength-based, solution-focused psychotherapy.

Yalom has vast knowledge and experience with group therapy, and in this book he imparts it to neophyte counselors in a logical and detailed format. He carefully explains the therapeutic value of a group, the factors necessary to facilitate change, and the role of the therapist. He emphasizes the here-and-now focus, and how group members create a social microcosm of their life within the therapy group. Yalom advises on practical matters, like the selection of clients and the creation of the group. He then carefully explores the stages that groups move through, and some problem members that one could encounter.

The drawbacks of this volume include the length - it is excessively long (they could cut chapter 9) due to the verbosity of the author. I had to look up several words and phrases that I was unfamiliar with, and I have to admit, some pages bored me. Nevertheless, for a text, this is a great book. I read every page, to the end, even the unassigned chapters. I'll keep this in my library for reference, and I hope to be able to refer to it repeatedly.

this truly is the universal group therapy handbook. it is extremely helpful for those practicing with long running groups. the case studies provide excellent illustration of the concepts discussed. it is a highly practical text with applications to both the group counseling realm, as well as the individual counseling realm.