Intervention in the Treatment of Psychotic Disorders - Essay Example

"Intervention in the Treatment of Psychotic Disorders" is a wonderful example of a paper on the disorder.
To effectively manage psychiatric conditions, the use of group therapy has been, over time, deemed as one of the best interventions. To develop a formidable team to institute therapy, some stages are followed, and formation is the first stage (Bell, Lim, Rossell, & Thomas, 2017). This essay discusses the formation stage of group therapy, some of the curative factors involved in group dynamics and intragroup conflicts, and the best approaches that were used to solve.

Explanation of the group process and the formation stage

There are essentially five stages involved in the development of groups that are used to implement psychotherapy: forming, storming stage, norming stage, performing, and adjourning stage; this essay considers the forming stage (Purwanto, Zuiderwijk, & Janssen, 2018). The group being looked at for this assignment is composed of individuals battling a wide-ranging number of conditions, which they sit down to handle through sharing.

The forming stage is when the group is just being put together, and this is associated with a lot of anxiety and the occurrence of uncertainty. The members tend to be reserved and cautious with how they behave, and this is driven by the desire to be accepted by all the group members (Pinto & Mónico, 2017). The group is also characterized by a lot of controversies and numerous conflicts. In this stage, members tend to retain their personal opinions, although they begin to form impressions about their fellows. At this stage, the role of the group members is to be familiar with each other and determine the purpose of being in the group. This stage's goal includes understanding the purpose and knowing how the team will be organized to attain the desired goals.

Curative factors that occurred in the group

The therapeutic factors occur throughout the stages of group psychotherapy, and they affect the outcome of the entire therapy. However, some curative factors are more applicable than others in group psychotherapy, and in this group, there were primary, secondary, and tertiary curative factors that were witnessed.

The primary curative factors

In the sessions, the primary factor of imparting information was visible. In this factor, the group members were determined to get more useful information from their fellow members and the facilitator. There was universality as well, where the members stated their common experiences and feelings. The members also focused on removing the sense of isolation and then validated their experiences (Nahum, Alfonso, & Sönmez, 2018). In the universality, the members also understood that they also shared common problems, and therefore no problem lacked a solution.

Secondary curative factors

Interpersonal learning was at the center of the entire therapy process, and as members shared, others got an opportunity to learn skills. The guidance was also greatly applied since the facilitator/ therapist remained in charge of the therapy session, guiding them throughout what steps to take (Leichsenring, Sarrar, & Steinert, 2019). Whenever members got out of the topic, the therapist brought them in line, which allowed the therapy session to proceed seamlessly.

Tertiary curative factors

Most importantly, cohesiveness was very vivid in the course of therapy. At this stage, the members learned to trust each other and then created some warmth, therefore being comfortable sharing their feelings without fear. Through cohesiveness, the members were able to take up the risk of adopting new behaviors, and this therapy, therefore, formed the basis of all the other curative factors. The members bonded well through the curative cohesiveness factor and therefore opened room for catharsis (Kennair, Mellor, & Brann, 2016). Through catharsis, the members were able to get relief from their expression of their emotions and, therefore, get support.

Implications of the curative factors

Curative factors made it possible for the group members to get enhanced recovery. In those faced with substance use disorders, the curative factors made it possible to attain full recovery. Most importantly, catharsis played a great role, and this is in tandem with the provisions of literature (Hauber, Boon, & Vermeiren, 2019). In the end, it was evident that those who undertook group therapy were able to attain faster healing than those who opted for individualized therapy.

Intragroup conflicts and the strategies used to solve

There were differences in the members' cultures and practices, and this was, therefore, s stumbling block at the beginning of therapy. To manage this properly, the facilitator leveled the ground by enabling members to appreciate the cultural diversity and urged them to allow each member to express themselves regardless of the culture (Fleury, Grenier, & Bamvita, 2017). Members understood that culture is a way of doing things, and no culture was superior to the other.

Some members showed some complacent tendencies and, therefore, reluctant to undertake therapy and assignments. Those who showed complacency were approached at a personal level, and this enabled understanding to bring them on board fully (Guth et al., 2019). Those who elicited controversy and conflicting ideas in the therapy course were called to the table and asked to tone down.