ABSTRACT
Our goal in compiling this handbook was to offer a comprehensive resource outlining the application of the cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) model to the group modality in working with children and adolescents. We believe, based on our experiences and given support in the literature, that group interventions are an efficient and effective method of service delivery for a wide variety of presenting problems and populations. While cognitive-behavior group therapy (CBGT) has become a common mode of treatment in many inpatient and substance abuse treatment settings, in other settings its use and support is only emerging (e.g., medical settings, school settings, and such). Authors in this handbook have offered a review of using CBGT in a variety of settings, while discussing the potential obstacles that clinician’s may face in each environment. Interestingly, while we might expect great differences between settings, much of the appeal for using CBGT in certain environments (e.g., ability to see more patients, social components), as well as the inherent obstacles (e.g., space, patients moving in and out of the system), are fairly common across settings. Therefore, once clinicians have the basic skills and an understanding of implementing CBGT, their ability to do so across settings is more a process of learning idiosyncratic aspects of each environment rather than a specific change to the CBGT model itself.
