Not designed as textbook of psychoanalytic group therapy, the purpose of this work is to give an impression of the way that the author conducts group therapy and what he has learned in doing so. The emphasis is on the style and creative effort in therapy, and upon its artistic side.

This book offers an illuminating insight into McNeilly's theories and practical applications of group art therapy in the context of significant developments in the field."

Leading art therapy groups is often a challenge, but as Bruce Moon so eloquently describes in this new second edition, making art in the context of others is an incredibly and almost inexplicably powerful experience. By placing the art at the center of practice, Art-Based Group Therapy creates an explanatory model and rationale for group practice that is rooted in art therapy theory and identity. There are four primary goals discussed in this text. First, an overview of essential therapeutic elements of art-based group work is provided. Second, a number of case vignettes that illustrate how therapeutic elements are enacted in practice are presented. Third, the author clearly differentiates art-based group therapy theory from traditional group psychotherapy theory. Fourth, the aspects of art-based group work and their advantages unique to art therapy are explored. Art-based group processes can be used to enhance participants' sense of community and augment educational endeavors, promote wellness, prevent emotional difficulties, and treat psychological behavioral problems. Artistic activity is used in art-based groups processes to: (1) create self-expression and to recognize the things group members have in common with one another; (2) develop awareness of the universal aspects of their difficulties as a means to identify and resolve interpersonal conflicts; (3) increase self-worth and alter self-concepts; (4) respond to others and express compassion for one another; and (5) clarify feelings and values. Through the author's effective use of storytelling, the reader encounters the group art therapy experience, transcending the case vignette and didactic instruction. Art-based group therapy can help group members achieve nearly any desired outcome, and/or address a wide range of therapeutic objectives. The book will be of benefit to students, practitioners, and educators alike. Using it as a guide, art therapy students may be more empowered to enter into the uncertain terrains of their practice grounded in a theory soundly based in their area of study. Practitioners will no doubt be encouraged, validated, and inspired to continue their work. The author succeeds in establishing a framework that allows art therapists to communicate the value of their work in a language that is unique to art therapy.

Recipient of the 2017 Anne Alonso Award for Excellence in Psychodynamic Group Therapy, conferred by the Group Foundation for Advancing Mental Health, part of the American Group Psychotherapy Association. From the Couch to the Circle: Group-Analytic Psychotherapy in Practice is a handbook of group therapy and a guide to the group-analytic model - the prevailing form of group therapy in Europe. The book draws on both John Schlapobersky’s engagement as a practitioner and the words and experience of people in groups as they face psychotherapy’s key challenges - understanding and change. This book provides a manual of practice for therapists’ use that includes detailed descriptions of groups at work; accounts of therapists’ own experience and the issues they face in themselves and in their groups. The book is devoted to the Group-Analytic model but the other principally psychodynamic models of group therapy - the Tavistock, Interpersonal, Psychodynamic, Modern Analytic and Structural/Systemic models - are brought into a comparative discussion and drawn upon to create an integrated and coherent approach. The book is divided into three sections: Foundations – aimed at practitioners using groups of any kind and working at every level, including those providing supportive psychotherapy and providing groups for psychosis, trauma, the elderly, people at risk, the elderly and children; The Group-Analytic Model – defines the group-analytic model at a basic and advanced level; The Dynamics of Change – aimed at group analysts, psychotherapists and psychologists providing short-term psychotherapy and long-term group analysis The book is illustrated with clinical vignettes including incisive, instructive commentaries to explain the concepts in use. It is intended for those seeking psychotherapy, whether to resolve personal problems or to find new sources of meaning in their lives. It is also intended for policy-makers in mental health, students of different models of psychotherapy and the psychosocial field. The comparative discussion running through the text about methods and models of practice will likely be of interest to the wider mental health and psychotherapy fields. The author draws together the inherited wisdom of group analysis since Foulkes’ time and makes his own lasting contribution. From the Couch to the Circle will be an invaluable, accessible resource for psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, psychologists, family therapists, academics, psychologists, mental health practitioners, academics and teachers in psychotherapy.

This book offers practitioners, teachers and students of psychotherapy a detailed and comprehensive account of group analysis. It demystifies the workings of analytic groups and looks at the great stretch of issues and tasks confronting the therapist in the practice of group analytic psychotherapy. Each stage in the process is fully discussed: the assessment and preparation of patients for groups, dynamic administration, beginning and ending a group, and the introduction of new members into an established group. A chapter on psychopathology gives a picture of the main psychiatric conditions which the group therapist is likely to encounter, and offers clear guidelines on how to manage them in a group context. An exposition on the group in full flow provides an unusual insight into the processes which constitute the analytic culture, including the analysis of dreams, the art of interpreting, use of the transference and countertransference, and the place of play, humour and metaphor. Difficult and challenging scenarios, such as dropping out, scapegoating, the silent group member, and monopolisation of the group are treated in depth, as are Large Groups, homogeneous groups, groups for children and adolescents, family therapy, groups in non-clinical settings, and the supervision of group therapy. The impingement of the therapist' s own personal issues is also given attention. The authors have flanked their narrative with accounts of the historical, social and cultural origins of group analysis, and a vision of the future provided by the newer strands of thinking in the field. The text is enlivened by colourful vignettes drawn from the authors' own experiences, and by sharply focused dialogues between the two authors, designed to illustrate their contrasting and complementary perspectives. The book represents a distillation of the authors' long experience in the field of group analytic practice and training in the United Kingdom and internationally.

Group Art Therapy: Practice and Research is the first textbook of its kind, taking into account practice-based evidence and using a transtheoretical approach to present a range of art therapy group interventions. The book covers essential topics including leadership, art making, successful therapeutic factors, and the basic stages of developing and facilitating groups. Offering practical information not only to students but also to experienced practitioners, the chapters provide details about preparation and practice, note-taking and documentation, and research tips. Adhering to the most up-to-date educational standards and ethical codes of art therapy, the book covers the full range of settings and art therapy approaches. This text will prepare art therapy graduate students and practitioners to lead groups in a variety of settings, theoretical approaches, and applications.

Informed by Freudian, Foulkesian, and object relations approaches to individual and group analytic therapy, Konig and Lindner's extensive theoretical understanding of groups and individuals is saturated with a flexible common sense that moves comfortably between theory and practical application.