Combined and parallel individual and group therapy—still a red rag?

Abstract

The author argues that in specific cases, and for particular reasons, combined or parallel treatment could be superior to sole individual or sole group therapy. In recent years, I treated some patients before and during the start of group therapy with weekly individual sessions. This procedure was necessary to reduce the fear of the group for these patients to a tolerable level. For some other patients, I replaced the third psychoanalytic individual session with psychoanalytic group therapy for their treatment. The concurrent parallel group session can provide a supplement and extension of the psychoanalytic process. For patients with pronounced super-ego disorders, severe shame and social anxieties, this treatment may boost individual development in treatment. Concurrent group and individual psychotherapy enriches transference and countertransference work in both settings and enables a dense and intensive therapeutic process. To treat people equally means to treat them differently. The needs of our patients are not the same. The main point of my interest is the patient and not the treatment modality. Every patient requires individual ways of therapy.