ABSTRACT
This chapter recounts the history of group treatment at the Dr. Karl Menninger Clinic with special emphasis on the uphill struggle that the people encountered in the early days, the various programs we introduced that facilitated its growth, and the special contributions we made to the American scene. As group therapists multiplied in number, a wish to have a personal group therapy experience began to surface. Perhaps this grew out of the brief small group experiences we had in the group relations conferences or at the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) institutes. Perhaps it grew out of the envy of the positive experiences that the participants had in the workshops. A group psychotherapy program at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka was initiated through the efforts of a small group of clinicians with a conviction that it was an important and valid treatment.
