The Psychiatrist's Effect on the Behavior and Interaction of Therapy Groups
BORIS M. ASTRACHAN M.D.1,
ARTHUR H. SCHWARTZ M.D.1,
ROBERT BECKER M.D.1, , and
MARTIN HARROW PH.D.2
1 Assistant Professors of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Conn. 06504
2 Assistant Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Conn. 06504
The present study investigated which aspects of group behavior and interaction are influenced more by the particular psychotherapist and patients involved than by the type of group therapy session. Taped segments from three therapists' groups, with each group attending under three controlled conditions, were rated "blind" for 37 aspects of group emotion, behavior, and interaction. The style of behavior preferred by each group therapist influenced particular patterns of group interaction and the groups' characteristic response to stress.
