Why Do People Prefer Individual Therapy Over Group Therapy?
Abstract
The current study aims to identify the reason people avoid group therapy despite its recognized effectiveness. Participants were 224 university students, men and women from two ethnic groups (Jewish and Arab) in Israel. We asked them to mark their preference for individual or group therapy on a 7-point scale and add five arguments in favor and against each type of therapy. Results verified the tendency to prefer individual over group therapy, with minor gender or ethnic effects. Participant arguments indicated accuracy in identifying the strength of group therapy, but various fears limit their enthusiasm about group therapy. The discussion focuses on possible ways to overcome those fears.
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Potential clients sometimes express reservations about group psychotherapy, including fear of criticism, rejection, or expectation to self-disclose.
“Research has shown that potential clients sometimes express reservations about group psychotherapy, including fear of criticism, rejection, or the expectation to self-disclose [40].”
From One-Day Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Compared to Support for Depressed Migraine Patients: a Randomized Clinical Trial. (2020) · cites this paper as [40]
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- Authors
- Shechtman, Z., & Kiezel, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Haifa (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Shechtman, Zipora
- Venue
- International Journal of Group Psychotherapy
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-06-07
- Volume
- 66
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 571-591
- ISSN
- 0020-7284 (ISSN-L)
- 1943-2836
- OpenAlex
- W2541196401
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 2.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Group Psychotherapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Keywords
- group therapy, individual psychotherapy, gender differences, ethnic differences, university students
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