Focused Brief Group Therapy: An Integrative Approach to Reducing Interpersonal Distress

Focused Brief Group Therapy is an integrative interpersonal approach to brief group therapy that uses formal assessment to guide and inform treatment.

Interpersonal relationships are an essential component of our physical and mental health, but developing meaningful relationships in today's world is an ever-present struggle. This book introduces mental health providers to focused brief group therapy (FBGT), and shows how how it can help reduce a patient's distress from loneliness and disconnection. Blending the art and science of therapy, this semi-structured model enables therapists to improve their client's existing interpersonal relationships, or develop new ones.

Part I offers an overview of the underlying constructs, integrated theory, and overall structure of FBGT. Part II provides strategies and techniques for implementation, and discusses the future of FBGT and its applications.

Martyn Whittingham, Ph.D., CGP., FAPA., FAGPA, is a licensed psychologist in Ohio and a consultant with a private practice. He has received national awards for group practice (with Dr. Erin Frick) in 2010, from the Association for Specialists in Group Work and for teaching group dynamics from the American Psychological Association (2021). He is the former president of Division 49 of the American Psychological Association (2020) and is a former chair of the American Group Psychotherapy Association’s Science to Service Task Force. He has authored numerous book chapters and journal articles and regularly presents on focused brief group therapy throughout the USA, China, the United Kingdom and Singapore. Dr. Whittingham is a fellow of both APA and AGPA. He lives in Cincinnati where he derives the greatest joy from moments spent with his wife and daughter and their cat, Envelope.