J. Kelly Moreno

Hostility in depression.

Subjects (39 men and 30 women) from two university counseling centers and one university medical center were administered the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, the State-Trait Anger Scale, and the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire. Results showed significant positive correlations between self-reported severity of depression and all subtypes of hostility including behavior, attitude, affect, intropunitiveness, and extrapunitiveness. Hierarchical regression analysis using demographic and hostility variables as predictors of depression scores showed increasing age, lower education, and female gender to account for 50% of the explained variance. The Intropunitive subscale from the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire accounted for an additional 19% of the explained variance and was the single most powerful predictor of depression. Correlational analysis showed women tending to have higher scores on most hostility measures. Implications of these results with respect to theory and clinical practice are discussed.

Significant events in a psychodynamic psychotherapy group for eating disorders

This qualitative pilot study was designed to identify and explain significant events for patients participating in a psychodynamic psychotherapy group for eating disorders. Specifically, seven members of a mixed (i.e., anorectic, bulimic, obese) eating disorders group recorded what they perceived as the three most “significant events” in group meetings for 14 weeks. In addition, group members were instructed to record why each event was significant. Manifest and latent content analyses of the data revealed that members found feedback and observing others the two most common types of significant events, and emotional experience, insight, and relationship the reasons these events had such impact. The implications of these results for working with the eating-disordered patient in group, as well as their implication for general group theory and practice, are discussed.

Group Therapy for Eating Disorders: A Retrospective Case Study

An increasing amount of research supports group therapy as an effective treatment option for eating disorders (Moreno, 1994). In an attempt to further delineate therapeutic factors associated with productive group work, this study represents an exploratory, descriptive analysis of client and therapist perspectives on group process and outcome. Specifically, this retrospective study investigated what clients and their therapist considered important, helpful, and problematic in an aftercare group for hospitalized patients with eating disorders. The therapist and client perspectives were considered separately. These data were then classified into four categories: importance, benefits, problems, and critical incidents. A follow-up discussion explores similarities and differences between therapist and client perspectives. Implications for practice and research are presented.

Scapegoating in Group Psychotherapy

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to describe and illuminate the phenomenon of scapegoating in group psychotherapy. Specifically, the role of projective identification—on both individual and group–wide bases—in the evolution of the deviant is delineated. Individual, interpersonal, and whole–group interventions are presented along with the technique of functional subgrouping, a relatively new and particularly potent group intervention. Several case vignettes are detailed for illustration.

Differences in family dynamics among anorexic, bulimic, obese and normal women

Abstract Family dynamics and communication patterns among eating disordered women were investigated. In general, anorexic, bulimic, and obese subjects exhibited more family disturbance than controls. In addition, bulimic subjects evidenced more family disturbance than anorexic or obese subjects. Implications for assessment, diagnosis, and treatment are discussed.

Group Therapy for Abused and Neglected Youth: Therapeutic and Child Advocacy Challenges.

Although group therapy for abused and neglected youth is a viable and efficacious treatment option, facilitation is challenging. Group leaders must contain intense affect, manage multiple transferences, and advocate for their clients within the larger social welfare system. Using a case study of a group for sexually abused girls, this paper explores some of these issues and discusses ways in which therapists recognize and deal with the dual challenge of advocating for and treating children.

Long-term psychodynamic group psychotherapy for eating disorders: A descriptive case report

Abstract Fifteen women with long-standing histories of eating and other disordered behavior participated in a psychodynamically oriented psychotherapy group over a 3-year period. This article provides a number of observations on this group and describes how a variety of organizational. patient, therapist, and treatment variables combined to help as well as hinder favorable outcome in group members. The implications of these findings for assessment, preparation, selection, and intervention are discussed, and recommendations are offered for working with more recalcitrant eating disordered people in pup in the future.