Healing Through Group Interaction (IN: Helping the Bereaved: Therapeutic Interventions for Children, Adolescents, and Adults, by A S Cook & D S Dworkin)

Group counselling &/or therapy can serve as an important adjunct to both individual & family therapy. It can also be used alone as the treatment of choice for some individuals. This chapter explores the characteristics of the group format & the implementation of this approach. Topics discussed include: characteristics of groups; self-help, counselling, & therapy groups; criteria for inclusion in therapy groups; developing a group; components of grief therapy groups; & additional considerations, e.g. leader’s self-disclosure. A brief list of references for specific types of grief groups concludes the chapter.