Participants' Perception of Therapeutic Factors in Group Counseling

Abstract

Yalom (1985) hypothesizes that clients'perception of therapeutic factors depend on the stage of group development and on client individual difference variables. The hypotheses were tested using the critical incident reports obtained from 18 participants in three 11-session counseling groups. Judges classified the critical incident reports into therapeutic factor cat egories. Perceptions of the relative importance of these factors were analyzed by stage of group development (early versus late) and by client interpersonal orientation (affiliative versus nonaffiliative and dominant versus submissive). Results indicate differences in the relative importance of the therapeutic factors as seen by the group participants for stage of group development and for participants' affiliativeness. No differences were found for dom inant versus submissive clients. The results are discussed in relation to theories of group de velopment, clinical group practice, and interpersonal conceptualization of counseling and therapy.