The social psychology of groups and group psychotherapy: One view of the next century

Will fields that study groups in general, such as social psychology, and fields that use groups to achieve therapeutic goals, such as group psychotherapy, move toward unification in the future or will they drift apart? One possible future assumes that these two approaches to groups will become better integrated as (a) societal changes increase individuals ’ reliance on groups; (b) research and theory on group processes become more sophisticated; and (c) basic and applied researchers work together more closely in examining groups. Such unification requires, however, changes in the training, outlook, and procedures used by both practitioners and researchers. KEY WORDS: collectivistic; methodology; theory-building; social psychology; group psycho-therapy. The twentieth century will be remembered as the era that produced both the scientific study of groups by social psychologists and the systematic use of group treatments by psychotherapists. During the 1900s researchers carried out the first experimental and field studies of groups, and they began to construct general theories to explain the behavior of individuals when in groups. The era also witnessed the first treatment sessions conducted by trained therapists, refinements in treatment methods, and the rise in popularity of self-help groups where group members sought support and insight into their psychological problems from peers (Forsyth & Corazzini, 2000). But despite the two fields ’ overlap in interest and objectives, as the 20th cen-tury ends the social psychology of groups remains distinct from the use of group