Japanese Psychogeriatric Society,
Japanese Psychogeriatric Society,
Recommendations to improve group cohesiveness would include encouraging clients to communicate openly and honestly, think and reflect on experiences, and share them with others (Wheeler, 2014). If incorporating a whole group activity is unsuccessful, the makeup of the members may need to be adjusted to be a more homogenous group.
References
Roback H. B. (2010). Adverse outcomes in group psychotherapy: risk factors, prevention, and research directions. The Journal of psychotherapy practice and research, 9(3), 113-22. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3330596/
Wang, C., Tzeng, D., & Chung, W. (2014). The effect of early group psychotherapy on depressive symptoms and quality of life among residents of an apartment building for seniors. Psychogeriatrics: The Official Journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society, 14(1), 38-46. doi:10.1111/psyg.12037
Wheeler, K. (Ed.). (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice. New York, NY: Springer.
Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (5th ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books.
POST 2
Group Therapy Session with Older Adults
Group Therapy Session
To begin, I am going to explain a group session I completed with a group of older adults with a diagnosis of depression. This group took place at an ALF located in Tampa, FL. The clients that participated in the group were 65-80 years old, there were 10 members present on this day. This group session lasted approximately 40 minutes.
The type of group that I lead is a reminiscence group. Group reminiscence therapy is a brief and structured intervention in which participants share personal past events with peers. This psychotherapeutic approach has been shown to improve an older person’s wellbeing and has the potential to reduce symptoms of depression (Gaggioli et al, 2014). This approach involves the recollection and review of past personal events. It is believed that reminiscence therapy can help elderly individuals by increasing self-acceptance, providing perspective, and enabling the resolution of past conflicts (Gaggioli et al, 2014). This is a very fun and interesting group to lead because it gives the group leader and the other members the opportunity to hear remarkable stories from the other clients. At it gives that particular member a moment to shine and share with others certain meaningful events they accomplished during their life instilling a since of pride.
