Degree of Structure in Group Format Toward Facilitation Group Alliances, Empathy, and Cohesion

A practitioner’s first exposure to group therapy becomes a template from which future practice is derived. In particular, the group format and the degree of structure imposed by the leader on the process are imprinted in the leader’s clinical reasoning. Group therapies are commonly categorized as psychodynamic, interpersonal, cognitive, and behavioral. Each of these conceptual frameworks indicates the group’s composition, leader role, and intervention principles. By carefully considering the degree of structure imposed, rather than follow implicit knowledge of past experience, the leader can more consciously shape group outcomes.