ABSTRACT
Group psychotherapy began as a separate development from psychoanalysis. Originating in the clinical experience that spontaneously occurring and organized patient groups could build morale and reduce anxiety, the treatment of patients in groups, whether for physical illness, mental disorder, or cultural/spiritual malaise, evoked the image of a powerful and curative moral and social force: ‘by the crowd have ye been broken, by the crowd shall ye be healed.’ Nowadays, with the great emphasis on explanatory constructs it is easy to forget that group therapy preceded its theories and was based on hygienic principles of effective communication, education, and emotional support.
