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This book is stated by its Editor to be an extension of an earlier volume, The Practice of Group Psychotherapy (Int. Universities Press, 1947), which dealt with the development of group psychotherapy up to 1945. The present volume, a collection of nineteen chapters by different authors, almost all American, is a co-operative presentation of the rapid development of group psychotherapeutic methods and their application in various clinical fields.
The Editor himself contributes an introductory chapter in which he outlines the advantages of selecting patients for groups on the basis of similarity of syndrome, and discusses some basic dynamics of group psychotherapy, and in particular of what Slavson calls analytic group psychotherapy, i.e. one based on modified and expanded psycho-analytic concepts. He is also the co-author of a chapter on group discussions with unmarried mothers.
T. P. Rees and M. M. Glatt, in the only contribution from Great Britain, sum up the historical developments of group therapy in mental hospitals before giving an account of the various group activities which are used at Warlingham Park. These include various types of activity groups, directive groups such as 'habit training groups', as well as more strictly psycho-therapeutic ones.
Other chapters discuss the application of group psychotherapy in psychosomatic disorders, a particularly promising field, and in such specialized fields as addiction, alcoholism, allergy, geriatrics, delinquency. Of special interest are the chapters on child guidance, family services, marriage problems. Private practice is dealt with by W. C. Hulse.