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Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is an innovative evidence-based intervention in mental and somatic health care. Gaining knowledge of therapeutic factors associated with treatment outcome can improve MBCT. This study focused on predictors of treatment outcome of MBCT for cancer patients and examined whether group cohesion, therapeutic alliance, and therapist competence predicted reduction of psychological distress after MBCT for cancer patients. Moreover, it was examined whether therapist competence facilitated therapeutic alliance or group cohesion. Multilevel analyses were conducted on a subsample of patients collected in a larger randomized controlled trial on individual internet-based versus group-based MBCT versus treatment as usual in distressed cancer patients. The current analyses included the 84 patients who completed group-based MBCT out of 120 patients who were randomized to group-based MBCT. Group cohesion and therapist competence did not predict reduction in psychological distress, whereas therapeutic alliance did. In addition, therapist competence did not predict therapeutic alliance but was associated with reduced group cohesion. Our findings revealed that therapeutic alliance significantly contributed to reduction of psychological distress in MBCT for cancer patients. Elaborating the clinical implications of the predictive significance of therapeutic alliance might be of added value to enhance the potential effect of MBCT., (© 2019 The Authors. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This paper provides a guide for supervisors in inpatient and partial hospital settings who train beginning group therapists in a variety of group modalities. It addresses basic issues facing the neophyte therapist, including structural aspects of the group, problematic member behaviors, and useful interventions that maximize member engagement and increase overall therapeutic effectiveness.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most widespread mental illness resulting from exposure to combat, necessitating an increase in the provision of group therapy. This pilot study examined the efficacy of, and treatment outcome predictors associated with, group inpatient treatment of combat-related PTSD. Participants included 38 active duty military personnel deployed during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), diagnosed with PTSD, and consecutive admissions to an inpatient PTSD treatment facility. A paired samples t-test revealed significant change in symptom severity and global functioning between pre- and post-treatment. Multiple regression analyses supported the predictive utility of baseline symptomatology and group cohesion (> 50% of the variance in treatment outcome), highlighting the importance of group cohesion in the efficacy of group treatment for combat-related PTSD.

Group therapists are in a unique position to be effective as change consultants to medical practices and hospital departments that wish to transition to patientcentered care (PCC) and patient- and family-centered care (PFCC). Medical groups are under increasing pressure to adopt PCC because it has been shown to be an important component of substantial improvements in health care delivery, including cost containment. The establishment of patient-centered care requires sensitive, repeated group-based interventions to be successful; group therapists have a deep understanding of such interventions. The paper outlines the literature on PCC and PFCC, considers the group processes underlying successful implementation, and then turns to various phases of the consulting process itself, including system-diagnostic interviewing, group meetings, resources, and tracking the consequences of the consultation.

Inveiglement is a mode of interpersonal influence and control that has particular relevance to group, organizational, and political life. In inveiglement, a person or group is diverted from knowing, believing, or thinking about an idea or a perception that exists mentally, or that could be generated. In the former situation, inveiglement may be conceived of as induced dissociation; in the latter, an impingement on the capacity to think and generate thoughts. In both situations, the individual or group becomes mentally bound by the parameters imposed by the other, constricting freedom to think and behave independently. I describe four subtypes: toxic, neurotic, communal, and presentational inveiglement, and provide clinical illustrations from group psychotherapy.

Objective: Group psychotherapy research would benefit from an observational measure of group cohesion to complement existing self-report measures. This study introduces the Therapy Process Observational Coding System-Group Cohesion scale (TPOCS-GC), which observationally assesses cohesion between each member and the group., Method: In total 27 parents participated in a group parent-training social competency intervention for children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Independent coders double-coded group cohesion and the alliance in 144 client-sessions. Parents, teachers, and children completed cognitive, behavioral, and therapy participation measures., Results: The TPOCS-GC demonstrated modest to strong item-level interrater reliability and acceptable internal consistency. Group cohesion evidenced moderate stability over the course of treatment. Relations between TPOCS-GC and theoretically linked and unrelated variables provided some evidence for construct and predictive validity., Conclusions: This preliminary study suggests that the TPOCS-GC is a reliable instrument that may help fill an instrumentation gap in the field., (2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc)