Kiel, PP6350
ArgosyUniversity
The AmericanSchool of Professional Psychology/Chicago Campus
Group Theory, PP6350
Summer I, 2008
9:00pm – 12:00pm
Mark Kiel, Psy.D., C.G.P.
Office phone number: (312) 777-7671Office Hours: M-Th*
E-mail: (also available by phone)*
*Please call to schedule an appointment
Catalog Description:
This course offers an introduction to the basic principles and theories of group psychotherapy operations. This course focuses on providing students with a broad understanding of group development, dynamics, leadership styles and different approaches to conducting group therapy. Theories of group development and relevant research are also addressed. This course is intended to provide a theory-based complement to the experiential course Personal and Professional Development (PP7080).
Purpose/Overview:
It is the purpose of this class to acquaint the student with theories of group psychotherapy. As Bion (1961) has pointed out, the first question one encounters when attempting to solve the problems of group psychotherapy is whether one aims at doing psychotherapy in the group or of the group. The former involves doing what is essentially individual therapy in a group of people while the latter involves working with the group as a whole - examining its dynamics, tensions, conflicts, defenses and so on. This course most decidedly takes the latter approach - of examining procedures of working with the group-as-a-whole and other group level dynamics. The emphasis will be on the therapy of the whole group.
This will involve the examination of roles, member relationships to the group task, issues such as joining, participation, differentiation and stages of group development.
This course will explore the impact groups and systems have on individuals and how those individuals relate to the various groups of which they are members. Specifically, this course will focus on the study of small and medium sized groups, with an emphasis on leadership and authority, member roles, small group dynamics, and development, diversity and treatments of choice.
Objectives:
- To define and understand basic concepts and theories of small group processes and social systems structure and processes.
- To describe and analyze group processes such as small group development, norms and member roles which emerge in systems in which students have participated.
- To experiencehave an initial experience with the basic theories and functioning of large group processes and social systems structure and processes.
- To develop an understanding of leadership, diversity, and authority issues in groups.
- To apply theory, research, and experience to other relevant group and systemic settings.
- To understand how various group formats can be therapeutic, and to identify how they are the treatment of choice for specific development issues and specific psychopathology.
Masters Program:
The Master’s Program in Clinical Psychology has been designed to educate and train students to enter a professional career as MA level practitioners. ISPP/AU-Chicago provides for its master’s students an educational program with all the necessary theoretical and clinical elements that will allow them to be effective members of a mental health team. The program introduces students to basic clinical skills that integrate individual and group theoretical foundations of applied psychology into appropriate client interaction and intervention skills. In addition, the Program offers excellent preparation for those considering application to the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology.
Library
All resources in ArgosyUniversity’s online collection are available through the Internet. The campus librarian will provide students with links, user IDs, and passwords.
Library Resources: ArgosyUniversity’s core online collection features nearly 21,000 full-text journals and 23,000 electronic books and other content covering all academic subject areas including Business & Economics, Career & General Education, Computers, Engineering & Applied Science, Humanities, Science, Medicine & Allied Health, and Social & Behavior Sciences. Many titles are directly accessible through the Online Public Access Catalog at Detailed descriptions of online resources are located at
In addition to online resources, ArgosyUniversity’s onsite collections contain a wealth of subject-specific research materials searchable in the Online Public Access Catalog. Catalog searching is easily limited to individual campus collections. Alternatively, students can search combined collections of all Argosy University Libraries. Students are encouraged to seek research and reference assistance from campus librarians.
Information Literacy: ArgosyUniversity’s Information Literacy Tutorial was developed to teach students fundamental and transferable research skills. The tutorial consists of five modules where students learn to select sources appropriate for academic-level research, search periodical indexes and search engines, and evaluate and cite information. In the tutorial, students study concepts and practice them through interactions. At the conclusion of each module, they can test their comprehension and receive immediate feedback. Each module takes less than 20 minutes to complete. Please view the tutorial at
Academic Policies
Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: In an effort to foster a spirit of honesty and integrity during the learning process, ArgosyUniversity requires that the submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student. All sources must be documented through normal scholarly references/citations and all work must be submitted using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition (2001). WashingtonDC: American Psychological Association (APA) format. Please refer to Appendix A in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition for thesis and paper format. Students are encouraged to purchase this manual (required in some courses) and become familiar with its content as well as consult the ArgosyUniversity catalog for further information regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.
Scholarly writing: The faculty at ArgosyUniversity is dedicated to providing a learning environment that supports scholarly and ethical writing, free from academic dishonesty and plagiarism. This includes the proper and appropriate referencing of all sources. You may be asked to submit your course assignments through “Turnitin,” ( an online resource established to help educators develop writing/research skills and detect potential cases of academic dishonesty. Turnitin compares submitted papers to billions of pages of content and provides a comparison report to your instructor. This comparison detects papers that share common information and duplicative language.
Americans with Disabilities Act Policy
It is the policy of ArgosyUniversity to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If a student with disabilities needs accommodations, the student must notify the Director of Student Services. Procedures for documenting student disability and the development of reasonable accommodations will be provided to the student upon request.
Students will be notified by the Director of Student Services when each request for accommodation is approved or denied in writing via a designated form. To receive accommodation in class, it is the student’s responsibility to present the form (at his or her discretion) to the instructor. In an effort to protect student privacy, the Department of Student Services will not discuss the accommodation needs of any student with instructors. Faculty may not make accommodations for individuals who have not been approved in this manner.
TheArgosyUniversity Statement Regarding Diversity
ArgosyUniversity prepares students to serve populations with diverse social, ethnic, economic, and educational experiences. Both the academic and training curricula are designed to provide an environment in which students can develop the skills and attitudes essential to working with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
Attendance:
Full class attendance is required. If a student must miss a class or a portion of it, she or he must notify the instructor at the earliest possible time. Two absences (or the equivalent in tardiness or early departures) and/or any failure to contact the instructor about an absence will result in either course failure or permission to withdraw from the course.
Confidentiality:
All material discussed within the time boundaries of the class is to be regarded as confidential by faculty, members and the teaching assistant. The only exception to this rule will be when a clear danger to self or others is indicated by the shared material.
Grades:
- Application Paper (80% of grade)
- Due week seven of class.
- Class Participation (20% of grade)
Course Readings:
* Handouts will be made available in class prior to lectures.
Week One
- Handout: *Hayden, C. & Molenkamp, R. Tavistock Primer II. In Cytrynbaum & Noumair (Eds), Group Dynamics, Organizational Irrationality and Social Complexity: Group Relations Reader 3, 2004.
- Yalom: 1
- Hazell: 1&2 (Rec)
Week Two
- Handout: *Cytrynbaum, S. Implications of the Tavistock Model for Group Psychotherapy.
- Ch. 2 Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
- Ch. 4 Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
Week Three
- Ch. 6 Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
- Ch. 8 Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
- Hazell: Ch. 3 (Rec)
Week Four
- Ch. 10 Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
- Ch. 11 Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
- Hazell: Ch 6 (Rec)
Week Five
- Ch. 11 Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
- Ch. 12 Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
Required Readings:
Yalom, I. “The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy,” 1995,IUP, New York.
# 0-465-08448-6
Recommended Texts:
Hazell, C. “Imaginary Groups,” 2005, Bloomington, Indiana: Authorhouse
#1-4184-9818-1
Bion, W. R., “Experiences in Groups,” 1961, Tavistock, London.
# 0-415-04020-5
Laing, R. D. “The Politics of Experience,”1967, New York
# 0-394-71475- X
Assignments:
- Application Paper (80% of grade) Due week seven of class.
In this paper, students are asked to analyze a group with which they are familiar. Students should describe the group, its constitution and context, and analyze the group from a psychodynamic, systems-oriented point of view. The paper should be about five pages long and should utilize at least five concepts covered in the course in its analysis. Points are awarded based on the accurate understanding of the concepts and their creative application to the group being analyzed. In describing the group students are expected to maintain the group’s confidentiality. Students are furthermore encouraged to be creative in developing their own concepts or applying ideas in imaginative ways.
Group Psychotherapy Schedule:
5/12 - Class 1: Introduction to course, Levels of Group Analyses, Group Development
5/26 - Class 2: Object Relations/Projective Processes/Group-As-A-Whole terms
6/2 – Class 3: Yalom /Application Exercises/Group Development/Treatments of Choice
6/9 - Class 4: Interpersonal and Relational groups
6/16 - Class 5: Humanistic and Encounter Groups
Final Papers Due
Student Agreement Form:
I ______have received a copy of the syllabus for ______. I have read the syllabus and understand the course requirements.
Signature: ______
Date: ______