T-groups (training groups) in psychiatric residency programs: facts and possible implications

Group Training for Psychiatric Residents: Support Group Facilitation and Supervision with Didactics

OBJECTIVE

Group psychotherapy merits dedicated training during psychiatry residency yet is challenging to implement given competing educational requirements. The authors implemented a voluntary support group training intervention for psychiatry residents consisting of a 6-h didactic series followed by at least 6 months of in vivo group facilitation and supervision. We hypothesized participation would improve residents' self-reported skill and knowledge in group facilitation.

METHODS

Psychiatry residents (PGY I-IV) voluntarily participated in this novel intervention that included a didactic series followed by experiential group facilitation and supervision. To assess confidence and self-reported skill level in group facilitation, residents completed two brief self-report surveys: before the didactic series (pre-intervention) and after group facilitation for at least 6 months (post-intervention). Surveys included Likert scales and open-ended questions. Quantitative data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and open-ended qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Twenty-three residents attended 4 to 6 h of didactics between 2016 and 2018. Of these 23 residents, 12 facilitated groups and attended supervision for at least 6 months. Twenty residents responded to pre-intervention surveys and 14 responded to post-intervention surveys. After the intervention, respondents reported a significant increase in knowledge and skills in group facilitation of 88% (15/17) on Likert scale questions.

CONCLUSIONS

This study implemented a novel educational intervention to train psychiatric residents in group dynamics and group facilitation. Participation increased residents' self-reported knowledge and skills in group facilitation. Future directions include incorporating feedback about group curriculum, evaluating resident knowledge and skills using assessment measures, recruiting more group participants, and focusing on peer-to-peer mentoring.

The demonstration group: a tool for observing group process and leadership style

Demonstration groups, a major modality for observing group process, have not been addressed in the group psychotherapy literature. This article defines the demonstration group and describes and discusses its various components: the volunteers (group members) and their recruitment, the demonstration group itself, group member debriefing, and the didactic component. Discussion of the physical setting, group agreements, and boundary considerations, as well as leadership tasks, challenges, and pitfalls are illustrated with examples. Leadership tasks in demonstration groups are compared with those in therapy groups. Guidelines that are likely to promote successful demonstration group experiences are provided. The leader's facility with the unconscious defense mechanism of projective identification is stressed.