Groups in Mental Health

OT Dude Academy’s Free NBCOT® Exam Prep Course Groups in Mental Health
Contents Hide
1 Introduction to Group Therapy
2 Specific Group Types
3 Role of the COTA
4 Current Practice of Group Work in Occupational Therapy
4.1 Interventions
4.2 Benefits and Perceptions of Groups

Introduction to Group Therapy

  • Occupational therapists typically use group therapy as a treatment modality in psychiatric settings.1 
  • Group therapy contributes to client condition improvement and is an effective treatment modality in acute psychiatric settings.2 3 
  • Although the nature of group treatment has changed, the overall use of groups has remained consistent.4 
  • Group therapy provides an opportunity for clients to learn how to develop social skills with the self, the therapist, and the group structure.5 
  • It is important to orient clients to the unit and setting to fully understand the purpose and goals of group therapy; it is not primarily used to decrease boredom.6 
  • The therapist should use a well-defined theoretical framework for group therapy.
    • Humanistic
    • Psychoanalytic
    • Cognitive
    • Developmental
    • Neurodevelopmental
    • MOHO
    • Acquisitional7 
  • The frame of reference often depends on the type of client population.3 

Specific Group Types

  • Task-oriented groups solve a problem, provide a service, produce a product, or engage in other goal-directed behavior.8 
    • A task is any activity or process directed toward creating or producing an end product or demonstrable service. Examples: cooking, gardening, ward decoration and improvement.
    • The intention is to provide a shared working experience.9 
  • The intention of activity groups is function and the experience of using an activity to develop one’s skills.10 

Role of the COTA

  • All of the guidelines for OTR vs. COTA described for individual service delivery also apply to group service delivery models, unless specified specifically for groups.11 

Current Practice of Group Work in Occupational Therapy

Interventions

  • Exercise
  • Activities of daily living
  • Instrumental activities of daily living
  • Task (product-oriented)
  • Verbal (discussion-oriented)
  • Sensorimotor and sensory integration
  • Psycho-educational (formal instruction)
  • Support (health-related problems)
  • Social interaction and Communication
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
  • Health and Wellness4 

Benefits and Perceptions of Groups

  • Feedback
  • Cohesiveness
  • Communication and participation
  • Self-esteem
  • Instillation of hope
  • Role modeling
  • Insight and learning
  • Skill performance
  • Goal outcome
  • Increased social and peer interaction
  • Developed a sense of personal causation
  • Was provided a safe and accepting environment
  • Increased skill and goal development
  • Increased motivation
  • Increased social-emotional support
  • Community reintegration
  • Sense of altruism, universality, catharsis
  • Improved mood
  • Client empowerment
  • Feelings of usefulness
  • Social connection
  • Decreased isolation
  • Controlled social setting4 
  1. Lloyd, C., & Maas, F. (1997). Occupational therapy group work in psychiatric settings. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 60(5), 226-230.[↩]
  2. Bloch S, Crouch E, Reibstein J (1981) Therapeutic factors in group therapy. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 519-26.[↩]
  3. Yalom J (1983) Inpatient group psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.[↩][↩]
  4. Higgins, S. M., Schwartzberg, S. L., Bedell, G., & Duncombe, L. W. (2014). Current practice and perceptions of group work in occupational therapy. group, 38(4), 317-333.[↩][↩][↩]
  5. Fidler G, Fidler J (1963) Occupational therapy: a communication process in psychiatry. New York: Macmillan.[↩]
  6. Polimeni-WalkerI, Wilson K, Jewers R (1992) Reasons for participating in occupational therapy groups: perceptions of adult psychiatric inpatients and occupational therapists. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 59, 240-47.[↩]
  7. Cole M (1993) Group dynamics in occupational therapy. Thorofare: Slack.[↩]
  8. APA Dictionary of Psychology. (n.d.). Task-oriented group. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/task-oriented-group[↩]
  9. Fidler, G. (2011). Group Dynamics in Occupational Therapy. Slack Incorporated.[↩]
  10. Cara, E., & MacRae, A. (2012). Psychosocial occupational therapy: An evolving practice (3rd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar.[↩]
  11. American Occupational Therapy Association. (2009). Guidelines for supervision, roles, and responsibilities during the delivery of occupational therapy services. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 58, 797–803. http://dx.doi.org/10.5014/ajot.63.6.797[↩]
Topic Content
0% Complete 0/11 Steps
Previous Topic
Back to Course
Next Topic