Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy » (4th Edition)

J. Scott Rutan, PhD, is a past president and Distinguished Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association. He founded the Center for Group Psychotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital and was a cofounder of the Boston Institute for Psychotherapy. Having left his long-time position on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Rutan is now a senior faculty member at the Boston Institute for Psychotherapy.

Walter N. Stone, MD, is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Currently, he is a clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco. He is a Distinguished Fellow and past president of the American Group Psychotherapy Association, and past chair of the Group Psychotherapy Foundation. Dr. Stone's broad-ranging interests in group psychotherapy include the application of self psychology and dynamic treatment of chronically mentally ill persons. He has published more than 50 articles, book chapters, and books relevant to group training, dynamics, and psychotherapy, including Group Psychotherapy for People with Chronic Mental Illness.

Joseph J. Shay, PhD, is on the staff of the joint McLean Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital training program and is an instructor in psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Formerly, he was the director of psychological services and training at a private treatment clinic in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Shay has published numerous articles and book chapters and has coedited, with Joan Wheelis, Odysseys in Psychotherapy and, with Lise Motherwell, Complex Dilemmas in Group Therapy.

This widely adopted text and clinical reference covers the "whats," "whys," and "how-tos" of setting up therapy groups and making them work. Coverage includes mechanisms and processes of change, patient selection, leadership issues, combining groups with other forms of treatment, and dealing with "difficult" patients. One of the text's most popular features is a chapter-length case illustration with commentary from each author.

W. Robert Aber

This second edition presents a cohesive theoretical framework for the practice of group psychotherapy from a psychodynamic perspective. The book also provides concrete advice on issues pertinent to patient selection, group maintenance, therapist intervention, and the management of often-encountered difficult patients. This book is intended to present a consistently psychodynamic approach to group therapy, drawing together ideas from many different but influential practitioners. This is a worthy objective because the commonalities among psychodynamic approaches are often obscured by partisanship. The authors have succeeded nicely in unifying a complicated field without resorting to oversimplification. The authors, who are well-known group psychotherapists, seem to have aimed the book primarily at practicing group therapists who are looking for a unifying theoretical and practical framework. This book would also be useful as a teaching text for advanced graduate students and psychiatric residents. There are very few texts available with this purpose and audience in mind. The references are pertinent and up-to-date. The book is of average attractiveness and is sensibly organized. This work fills an important niche and is unique in many important ways. Without sacrificing intellectual clarity, it unifies and organizes the theory that underlies psychodynamic group psychotherapy. In addition, it tackles squarely many of the practical issues related to patient management and therapist intervention faced by group therapists. For these reasons I highly recommend it.