Cognitive Therapy in Groups : Guidelines and Resources for Practice

Psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, counsellors and therapists are under growing pressure to develop ever more cost-efficient ways to provide effective, ethical and client-friendly therapy. These demands are met by cognitive therapy in groups. Michael Free has developed an effective, tried-and-tested course of group therapy for depression and other emotional disorders, which can be used and adapted by mental health professionals to meet the needs of a wide range of clients and treatment services.

This book is a complete manual for a 12-week program of group therapy based on the cognitive therapy of Beck, Ellis, and McMullin. It contains all the materials needed to conduct the group, including information sheets for referring agencies and prospective participants and suggestions for assessment. Each of the 12 therapy chapters contains guidelines for checking homework, fully scripted mini-lectures, exercises, specified homework, and also suggestions for dealing with problems that may arise in the session. An appendix contains masters for visual resources that can be directly photocopied, as can the handouts and forms for participants in the group therapy sessions. For the busy clinician, therapist or counsellor this book represents

• a conceptually powerful approach to dealing with depression and emotional problems
• a tested and well-developed group program, with full guidance on selecting participants and key aspects of the therapy process
• materials and resources for the therapist and clients that can be directly copied or adapted
• outcome evidence of effectiveness and descriptive materials for funding agencies and prospective clients

?This book is remarkable both for its clarity of theortical description and for the attention given to therapeutic details. These elements are efficiently and effectively combined in ways which will readily enable the reader to understand and implement the principles of cognitive therapy for depression as applied in a group format.? Paul Salkovskis, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry

"Overall, Cognitive Therapy in Groups has much to recommend it. The handouts, overheads, and exercises could be used in either individual or group therapy" (Charles H. Elliot, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, Vol. 15, No. 2, 8/01)