The University of Sheffield
Centre for Psychological Services Research

Systematic Review of Group Psychotherapy

This review will cover the efficacy of Group Analysis and Analytic/Dynamic (A/D) Group Psychotherapy, evidence on the clientele who use these approaches, the numbers of clients, size of groups and duration of therapy. The review will cover both published and unpublished evidence.

Aims

  1. To survey the current settings in which group analytic and psychodynamic group therapies are offered and the range of problems it is used to address.
  2. To systematically review the efficacy and effectiveness of group analysis and psychodynamic group therapies by evaluation of published reports of treatment outcomes.
  3. To summarise published findings concerning links between specific treatment factors and positive or negative outcomes, with an assessment of the quality of the evidence for these.
  4. To examine the variety of homogenous group treatments and the efficacy of these groups.
  5. To assess the scope of unpublished practice-based evidence within the UK and internationally to contribute to evidence of the effectiveness of these treatments.
  6. To prepare an article(s) for publication in a peer reviewed journal.
  7. To prepare a report for publication in Group Analysis and a summary of the findings for the IGA website.

Research Team

This is a collaborative project between a variety of experts with a strong track record in systematic reviewing and rapid appraisals for NICE, HTA and other major funders. The team brings together expertise in psychological therapies, psychological services research, systematic reviewing, and evidence appraisal.

The team is supported by the wider resources of ScHARR, including an excellent Information Resources department which has recently been awarded the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) 'Seal of Recognition'. The team will guide study design, literature searching and data analysis; provide independent review of articles for the literature review; and undertake writing up and disseminating the results. The Research Team will take advantage of the input of the IGA Expert Panel to ensure that the research is grounded in specialist knowledge of the topic and meets the IGA specification.

Staff involved in this project are:

Prof Digby Tantam (Group Analyst & Professor of Psychotherapy) and Eleni Chambers (service user researcher consultant) are acting in an advisory capacity.