ABSTRACT
The importance of the process of preparing and orienting group members for the group they are about to join cannot be emphasized enough. The group therapy literature of the recent past reflects a burgeoning interest in the prevention of group dropouts and the utilization of pre-group preparation as a vehicle for accomplishing this goal (Piper et al., 1982; Spitz, 1984) There are a variety of ways of preparing prospective group members. The continuum extends from informal discussions with individual members to structured pre-training programs (Piper & Marrache, 1981), the distribution of written orientation manuals, group orientations involving many or all members at the same time, and others.
