Comparison of Therapeutic Factors in Group and Individual Treatment Processes

Holmes, Stacey E.
Kivlighan, Dennis M. Jr.

¹Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri—Columbia

²Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dennis M. Kivlighan, Jr., Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, 16 Hill Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211. Electronic mail may be sent to [email protected].

Received Date: September 30, 1999; Revised Date: February 15, 2000; Accepted Date: February 17, 2000

Journal of Counseling Psychology 47(4):p 478-484, October 2000.

Group and individual treatments have equivalent outcomes, but little is understood about the therapeutic processes in these treatment modalities; therefore, similarities and differences in the therapeutic process were explored. Critical incident obtained from 20 individual and 20 group clients were rated on 4 dimensions of session impact: emotional awareness–insight, relationship–climate, other- versus self-focus, and problem definition–change) using the Group Counseling Helpful Impacts Scale (). The findings of this study indicate different therapeutic processes in group and individual treatments. Ratings of relationship–climate and other- versus self-focus impacts were higher in the group participants' critical incident forms, whereas emotional awareness–insight and problem definition–change ratings were higher in the critical incident reports of individual treatment participants.