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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY, 51(3) 2001
SIU-KAU CHEUNG, PH.D. STEPHEN Y.K. SUN, M.S.W.
ABSTRACT
To date, the notion of helpfulness of group processes has been equivocal in research on self-help groups. This article argues that findings drawn from the participants subjective appraisals of helpfulness carry meanings different from those drawn from the correlational approach. In a mutual aid organization serving adults with mental health problems, the study found that, whereas universality, self-disclosure, and instillation of hope were the most valued processes, support and catharsis were the strongest correlates of benefits of participation. The authors propose a two-level hierarchy that distinguishes sustaining and beneficial factors. Different sets of factors should constitute the focus of facilitation at different stages of group development.
Researchers and clinicians alike have considered the identification of helping processes (sometimes called curative factors, therapeutic factors, or change mechanisms) important in group psychotherapy. By helping processes, we mean those elements, contingent on the actions of the group worker, the group members, and the participant himself or herself, that contribute to improvement in a participants condition (Bloch & Crouch, 1985). The line of investigation can be traced back to the seminal work by Yalom (1995), who identified 11 therapeutic factors in psychotherapy groups: the instillation of hope, universality, information or direct advice, altruism, corrective recapitulation of the
Siu-kau Cheung is Principal Lecturer, Division of Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong. Stephen Y.K. Sun is Lecturer, Division of Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong.
The authors acknowledge the research grant #9030547 from City University of Hong Kong and the partnership of the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society in the research process.
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Helping Processes in a Mutual Aid Organization for Persons with Emotional Disturbance
296 CHEUNG AND SUN
primary family group, development of socializing techniques, imitative behavior, interpersonal learning, group cohesiveness, catharsis, and existential factors. Though Yaloms framework was originally intended for use for psychotherapy groups, it formed the conceptual basis for a number of investigations on self-help groups, in which leadership was indigenous and members participated voluntarily to address life problems or conditions shared by all members (Heil, 1992; Llewelyn & Haslett, 1986).
Based on Yaloms framework, Lieberman (1983) proposed a similar scheme that classified change mechanisms into 12 categories: universality, support,...