Bonnie Katz Psychotherapy

Cancer Patients

Many cancer patients have witnessed positive results with group therapy.  For patients in the early stages, group therapy helps them deal with their illness in a multitude of ways.  For instance, as emotional distress decreases, a person’s social activity, coping and self-esteem has increased.  For those in more advanced stages, people have not only gained a greater sense of purpose in life but have also found pain and fatigue to become less of a problem.  When those who are unaware or in denial take part in therapy, their deterioration is often lessened, while improvements are enhanced for those already aware of their condition.  People who are limited in social and personal resources find group psychotherapy can lead to greater benefits.  More compellingly, studies support the value of long-term interactive groups for those with advanced cases of widespread disease.  In the case of breast cancer, for example, patients in a group psychotherapy test survived significantly longer than those in the control conditions.  Additionally, members of cancer support groups notice a reduction in their amount of pain and stress-related physical problems. 

HIV/AIDS Patients

HIV/AIDS patients undergoing group psychotherapy have reported lower levels of stress and burnout as well as improvements in their physical condition as well as greater self-efficiency and hardiness.  For homosexual men suffering from depression, group therapy often provides improvements in psychiatric symptoms.  With adolescents, self-esteem has increased while behavioral problems, distress and family stressors have often decreased.  Patients who participated in Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management groups noticed reductions in depression, anxiety and self-reported healthcare visits. 

Character Disorders 

Intense group psychotherapy sessions have yielded significant results for people with character disorders.  As patients improve interpersonal skills, mood control and self-esteem, dysfunction levels in social and family situations, along with the severity of their disturbance can diminish, leading to an overall improvement in life satisfaction.  Group psychotherapy also has helped reduce depression and suicidal tendencies in some instances of personality disorders.  Improvement has been shown through working in a variety of different groups and situations, giving patients the opportunity to work with a large number of peers and staff.  In such circumstances, patients show improvement solely from group therapy, without having individual treatment. Further, once patients are involved in therapy they may be more apt to experience a reduction in symptoms particular to their specific disorder.

Depression & Grief

Group psychotherapy is also used to help treat people with depression.  For example, women who have suffered the loss of a child have reduced their amount of grief and post-traumatic stress syndrome through group.  Surrounding themselves with a peer group helps women heal and regain a sense of hope.  Likewise for single depressed mothers, participants can increase their self-esteem and function better within their families with the right support.

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are also treated by group.  In the case of bulimia nervosa some group participants have been able to reduce the amount of bingeing and purging with even greater benefits resulting from earlier interventions and more intensive therapy. Overall, eating behavior has been shown to improve while simultaneously reducing anxiety and depression.

Youth Violence

Youth violence is a disturbing trend.  As violence has risen in our schools, prevention methods are being sought to prevent young people from such detrimental behavior.  By bringing versions of group therapy into the classroom, students are shown how to avoid aggressive behavior and its consequences.  In studies where youths previously involved in violence took part in group therapy, a significant reduction was seen in aggressiveness and in subsequent arrests; academic performance also was shown to improve.  With early intervention and active discussion about violence, many students can learn how to curb violent tendencies and interact more normally with others.