Comparative Analysis of the Processes of Group Work in Psychological Training and Psychotherapeutic Groups

Molostova A.N.
PhD in Psychology, Assistant Professor, Chair of Individual and Group Psychotherapy, Counseling and Clinical Psychology Department, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1138-943X
e-mail: Molostova.psychotherapy@yandex.ru

PDF (RUS)
Online translation in english

The article presents an approach to the analysis of the functioning of psychological training group and therapy group. The following aspects of the functioning of the psychological group are considered: evolution of the problematics and evolution of the relationships. Evolution of the problematics refers to the movement in the field of the content of the problems on which participants focus. Evolution of the relationships signifies the deepening of the contact between the participants in the dynamics of the group’s development. The author analyzes how the balance between these two aspects changes depending on the approach to group psychological work. Both aspects are considered in the context of the development stages of a training or therapy group. As a result, differences in the balance between the evolution of the relationships and evolution of the problematics in two types of groups are formulated. In psychological training evolution of the relationships between participants has an auxiliary value while the evolution of the problematics dominates. In group therapy evolution of the relationships is a key process that provides therapeutic changes.

Keywords: psychological group, psychological training group, group therapy, evolution of relationships, evolution of problematics, development stages of the group

Column: Workshop and Methods

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/cpp.2018260108

For Reference

Molostova A.N. Comparative Analysis of the Processes of Group Work in Psychological Training and Psychotherapeutic Groups. Konsul'tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya = Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy, 2018. Vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 112–128. doi:10.17759/cpp.2018260108. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

Vasilyuk F.E. Metodologicheskii analiz v psikhologii [Methodological analysis in psychology]. Moscow: MGPPU; Smysl, 2003. 240 p.
Vasilyuk F.E., Karyagina T.D. Lichnost’ i perezhivanie v kontekste v kontekste ekspiriental’noi psikhoterapii [Personality and Experiencing in the Context of Experiential Psychotherapy]. Konsul’tativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya [Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy], 2017, no. 3, pp. 11—32. doi:10.17759/ cpp.2017250302. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.)
Сorey G. Teoriya i praktika gruppovogo konsul’tirovaniya [Theory and practice of group counseling]. Moscow: Eksmo, 2003. 640 p. (In Russ.).
Kociunas R. Psikhoterapevticheskie gruppy: teoriya i praktika [Psychotherapeutic groups: theory and practice]. Moscow: Akademicheskii prospekt, 2000. 240 p.
Krichevskii R.L., Dubovskaya E.M.. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya maloi gruppy: Uchebnoe posobie dlya vuzov [Social psychology of a small group. Textbook for high schools]. Moscow: Aspekt Press, 2001. 318 p.
Lewin K. Teoriya polya v socialnikh naukakh [Field theory in social science]. Moscow: Akademicheskii prospekt, 2017. 313 p. (In Russ.).
Nikandrov V.V. Antitrening, ili Kontury nravstvennykh i teoreticheskikh osnov psikhotreninga: Uchebnoe posobie [Antitrening or Contours of the moral and theoretical foundations of psychological training]. Saint Petersburg: Rech’, 2003. 176 p.
Petrovskii V.A. Deyatel’nostnoe oposredovanie mezhlichnostnykh otnoshenii: fenomeny, sushchnost’ [Activity mediation of interpersonal relationships: phenomena and subject-matter]. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo [Social Psychology and Society], 2011, no. 1, pp. 5—16. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.)
Khryashcheva N.Yu. (ed.). Psikhogimnastika v treninge [Psychogymnastics during training]. Saint Petersburg: Yuventa, I.T., 1999. 256 p.
Rudestam K. Gruppovaya psikhoterapiya [Experiential Groups in Theory and Practice]. Saint Petersburg: Piter, 2001. 384 p. (In Russ.).
Rutan J., Stone W. Psikhodinamicheskaya gruppovaya psikhoterapiya [Psychodynamic group psychotherapy]. Saint Petersburg: Piter, 2002. 400 p. (In Russ.).
Yalom I. Gruppovaya psikhoterapiya. Teoriya i praktika [Theory and practice of group psychotherapy]. Moscow: Aprel’ Press, EKSMO-Press, 2001. 576 p. (In Russ.).