Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy: A Behavior Science Perspective

As the current mental health climate places greater emphasis on evidence-based practice, it is important to consider the basic science underlying treatment. This article examines the psychodynamic group psychotherapy process from a behavior science perspective, linking basic research results to clinical practice. Clinical interventions and the change process are explained in the context of operant behavior theory. A special class of operant behavior, cultural behavior, is described and connected to therapeutic resistance and its resolution. Emotional difficulties and their amelioration are explained using respondent conditioning principles. In keeping with the American Psychological Association (2005) position regarding research evidence, these behavior science explanations serve to connect the group psychotherapeutic process to relevant results of basic research in psychology, further endorsing this treatment modality.