Ward Therapy—A New Method of Group Psychotherapy: Nathan Blackman. Psychiatric Quarterly, XVI, 1942, pp. 660–667.

Blackman describes an interesting method of group psychotherapy which uses essentially the same technique as individual psychotherapy. The entire ward population, including nurses and attendants, sits with the therapist and a friendly discussion is gradually started. The therapist begins by explaining the functioning and the purpose of the hospital, its rôle in promoting cures, its interest in understanding mental illnesses and aberrant forms of behavior. Then the difficulties of any one of the members of the group are discussed. The patient is encouraged to present and elaborate on his thoughts about his past and present behavior. The group discusses in detail the behavior of the patient, his life story and the reasons for his illness. The therapist adds his comments. Patients may also suggest topics of interest to them—masturbation, early traumata, the rôle of the parents and the importance of various professions—for discussion in the group, while the therapist acts in the capacity of a moderator. This permits the patient to master an objective approach to his problems instead of losing himself in the all too introspective relationship which usually exists between the patient and the therapist. A setting is provided in which the patient can re-evaluate his concepts and find his problems socially acceptable.