Group psychotherapy training: a quest for standards

This paper deals with the need of implementing standards into the training--and thus practice--of group psychotherapy. The author depicts the background and development of this treatment modality, pointing out the dangers in further unregulated growth. A rationale for the necessity of future guidelines is made in order to ensure proper levels of practice, to facilitate peer review, and for research and public accountability. The components of a comprehensive training program for group psychotherapy are described along with reasons for each. The international literature is reviewed, and relevant model programs and the problems involved are critically discussed. The author concludes that group psychotherapy is likely to become an even more widely practised treatment modality in the future. It will benefit the patients, the public at large and the mental health profession, if the latter will offer to the field of group psychotherapy more constructive criticism than in the past.