Group Psychotherapy with Addicted Populations

Book excerpt: This newly updated and streamlined edition of Group Psychotherapy with Addicted Populations provides proven strategies for combating alcohol and drug addiction through group psychotherapy. The interventions discussed in the book build on a foundation of addiction as an attachment disorder rooted in the understanding of addiction as a family disease. An appreciation of group and organizational dynamics is used to address the complex experience of developmental trauma that underlies addiction. Having identified the essential theoretical underpinnings of supporting recovery from addiction in Part One, the second half of the book gives a thorough nuts and bolts description of constructing a psychotherapy group and engaging productively in the successive phases of its development from initiation of treatment to termination. The book concludes with specific recommendations for group psychotherapists to increase their competence with groups, deepen their appreciation of group and organizational dynamics and develop a community of support for their own well-being. These methods are important for psychotherapists working with addicted populations who are inexperienced with group psychotherapy as well as seasoned group psychotherapists wishing to enhance their work.