Essay Sample on Effectiveness of Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Introduction

Group therapy refers to a form of psychotherapy in which a therapist or a group of therapists are involved in the treatment of a small group of patients or clients who are suffering from similar struggles. In confidential and safe settings, group members share personal experiences, issues, and feelings while they also get feedback from the group. Group therapy interventions have been used over the decades to treat numerous psychological, social and mental conditions. Both theoretical and practical approaches, models, and measures have been proposed and used by therapists to treat certain conditions. The degree of effectiveness of these techniques varies depending on various factors, but the existing body of research focusing on these models indicates a considerable amount of positives. To evaluate the effectiveness of group therapy, this paper will focus specifically on an article titled "Examining Effectiveness of Group Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Externalizing and Internalizing Disorders in Urban Schools written by Eiraldi et al. (2016). The study was focused on urban public schools situated in the North East region of The United States with the aim of dealing with aggressive, disruptive, defiant and antisocial behaviors so common in school setups. The model used to treat depression in this article, that is, cognitive behavioral group therapy (GCBT) technique forms the major topic for evaluation.

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Learned from this article about the intervention of GCBT in treating depression, it is the first-line recommendation while treating depression. Group GCBT is known to be cost effective as compared to individual therapy, and patients can benefit immensely from group cohesion, confidentiality and a sense of safety involved in the therapy environment. It also helps patients to learn from others, engage in behavioral experiments, and also act as co-therapists. However, GCBT is not preferred by some patients due to lack of privacy and limited focus on an individual patient. The disorders covered by the study have been attributed to academic underachievement, suspension, grade retention, expulsion and later, altercations with the law. Also, multi-tiered approaches can also be used to prevent emotional and behavioral problems in urban schools. Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) is one of those approaches that are also used in this article (Eiraldi et al., 2016).

Group cognitive behavioral therapy resonates well with the personal and professional values of social work. These values include worth of the individual, dignity, integrity, centrality, and importance of human relationships and well-being. Because cognitive behavioral therapy concurs well with social work values, an extensive body of research backs up its effectiveness as a form of intervention for various psychological conditions (Gonzalez-Prendes, 2012).

The model was evaluated using a McNemar's test to ascertain whether or not there were any disorders at the post-intervention level. The results of this evaluation indicated that there was a significant decrease in the disorders under therapy. From pre to post-intervention level, the levels of diagnostic severity decreased by 60 percent. Other analyses were also conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention specifically to a particular group of students belonging to different age groups and grades. The overall results indicated positive outcomes (Eiraldi et al., 2016).

The population studied was greatly diverse consisting of students from various ethnic backgrounds including Latino (75%), African-American (18%), Caucasian and Asian (1%), and other groups making up to 5 percent of the study group. Other factors included differences in developmental levels, and the number of participants was 164 with 63 percent being male students. In this intervention, Eiraldi et al. (2016) do not use experimental, or control groups and failure to do this renders the results unfocused and limiting to clinical effectiveness.

The study used trained therapists with the aid of school-based clinicians and graduate psychology students who helped in consultations and coordination of the whole study process. The ethical considerations during this study included a collaboration of trained therapists with other professionals including school-based clinicians. The line between the pursuit of information and privacy was also so thin, and in cases where it was not clear, the therapy bypassed certain questions. Dealing with pre-teens and teenagers, the advanced therapy skill learned in this study was the ego state therapy which is a psychodynamic approach crucial to the treatment of both cognitive and behavioral problems in people (Eiraldi et al., 2016).

This intervention model can be used by any group therapist or social worker when dealing with diverse groups because it can accommodate all the needs of patients who provided professional values and ethics are observed. GCBT, as the name suggests, can be well utilized in populated areas or social setups like schools because of cost-effectiveness and availability of many patients in one setting (Thimm & Antonsen, 2014).

According to Gonzalez-Prendes (2012), Group cognitive behavioral therapy advances an individuals' psychological social justice and human rights. It is used as a remedy for severe mental illness because it nourishes cognitive processes and helps with psychotic disorders. This encourages the use of GCBT (Walker, Steel & Shearsby, 2012).

Conclusion

In conclusion, group cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in treating or managing psychological, emotional and social disorders. The efficiency of GCBT is relevant in large social setups whereby groups can be found in certain settings. Understanding professional ethics and values is indispensable for any social worker or therapist especially when dealing with diverse groups of people. Collaboration among professionals is crucial for the overall wellbeing of therapy patients.

References

Eiraldi, R., Power, T. J., Schwartz, B. S., Keiffer, J. N., McCurdy, B. L., Mathen, M., & Jawad, A. F. (2016). Examining effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral therapy for externalizing and internalizing disorders in urban schools. Behavior modification, 40(4), 611-639.

Gonzalez-Prendes, A. A., & Brisebois, K. (2012). Cognitive-behavioral therapy and social work values: A critical analysis. Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 9(2), 21-33.

Thimm, J. C., & Antonsen, L. (2014). Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral group therapy for depression in routine practice. BMC psychiatry, 14(1), 292.

Walker, P., Steel, Z., & Shearsby, J. (2012). Can Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Act as a Human Rights Intervention for Consumers Experiencing Severe Mental Disorder?. Retrieved from http://oxfordmedicine.com/view/10.1093/med/9780199213962.001.0001/med-9780199213962-chapter-037