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This text is a valuable addition to the growing list of books on group psychotherapy. Most works in this field have reflected the thinking of the particular school of psychoanalysis or psychotherapy that the author was trained in or had developed himself. In this book Yalom is eclectic and research oriented. This gives the text a special advantage. On the one hand the author has adroitly distilled the best from many innovators who have contributed to psychoanalytic or psychotherapeutic thinking. On the other hand, Yalom's emphasis on research and his many research reports give a definitiveness to the various conclusions reached in the book. I would agree with the author that more research, carefully and rigorously conducted, is needed not only in group therapy, but in the entire field of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.
The book begins with a description of the curative factors in group psychotherapy. In a statistical research project, the author and two associates, asked patients to rank various curative factors in order of importance. Interpersonal learning (what the patient learns about himself from the group's reactions to or statements about him) scored first. The second highest score was given to catharsis, which although a valuable part of the curative process, was not a goal in itself. A third important curative factor was group cohesiveness, which is closeness, loyalty, mutual acceptance, and warmth among members of the group. Although this was not necessarily a direct curative factor in itself, it was essential to the continued effectiveness of the group.
There are instructive chapters on the role and technique of the therapist, the election of patients, the composition of therapy groups, and factors of place, time, size, and preparation in the creation of the group. Yalom gives an excellent review of the views and techniques of many influential writers in the field of group psychotherapy. Horney is referred to many times in this book, and the author shows