ABSTRACT
Psychotherapists began treating patients in groups, they have had to face the issue of understanding the dynamic forces that are set in motion, as well as the challenging problem of how to use those forces to therapeutic advantage. In order to appreciate the evolution from the individualistic to the group centered approach, one must contrast the philosophies of the two groups, the American and the British, separated by an ocean and a common language, as G. B. Shaw once quipped. American and British group psychotherapy developed from widely divergent beginnings, but they now are showing a greater degree of convergence. The American approach, mainly under the dominance of Sam Slavson, emphasized the uncovering of each individual group member's conflicts and defenses and regarded group dynamics as anti-therapeutic as well as homogenizing. American group psychotherapy seems to have moved steadily toward some adaptation of the British theoretical base, although many variations in its application exist.
