A psycho‐educational intervention for depressed women: A qualitative analysis of the process

Abstract

Yalom (1995) has stated that psycho-educational interventions could be made more effective by incorporating a focus on the interpersonal process. A qualitative analysis is proposed to investigate the degree of fidelity with which a psycho-educational intervention for women with depressive symptoms was delivered and to identify Yalom's significant therapeutic mechanisms operating in group therapy. The intervention consisted of six 2 two-hour weekly sessions organized around educational material. Eight groups were conducted with 5-19 participants each. A qualitative analysis was undertaken based on Kvale's (1996) technique of 'categorization of meanings' for the transcribed registers of audiotaped recordings. The analysis led to the definition of five major group process categories: establishment of rules, educational exchange, experiential exchange, reflexive work designed to achieve cognitive and behavioural change, and limitations on the exchange process. It showed that the facilitators largely adhered to the goals of the intervention, its strategies and model, and that the main limitations concerned facilitators' and participants'speaking for over-long periods of time and facilitators' failure to cover all the material due to lack of time. The subsequent analysis identified four of Yalom's categories: installation of hope, didactic instruction, catharsis, and universality. In support of Yalom's assertion, we concluded that this exercise was useful in that it highlighted important therapeutic factors that could be more purposefully manipulated in the future.

Implementation outcomes and strategies for depression interventions in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

“…The number of studies has increased since 2015, with less than 10 studies published every year from 2003 to 2015, compared to 12 studies in 2016, 10 studies in 2017, 15 studies in 2018, and 8 studies published through 20 March 2019. The first three studies, published between 2003 and 2006, reported: (1) adoption and cost for the implementation strategy of ongoing training of primary health care nurses for depression treatment in Zimbabwe (Abas et al, 2003); (2) acceptability and fidelity of a psycho-educational depression intervention in Mexico (Lara et al, 2004); and (3) the costs associated with a multi-component stepped-care depression program for treating women with depression in Chile (Araya et al, 2006). The majority of studies were from Sub-Saharan Africa (n = 39; 36.7%), although only eight total countries in this region were represented, with South Africa (n = 9; 31.0%), Zimbabwe (n = 6; 20.7%), and Nigeria (n = 6; 20.7%) accounting for more than half of all articles published in the region (see Fig.…”

Helping factors in an outdoor adventure program

“…As for imparting information, it appeared in the upper ranks of two studies, one concerning a support group (Oliveira et al, 2008), the other involving a therapy group (Roy et al, 2005), but was in the lower ranks in other studies focused on similar group types (Ahmed et al, 2010;Oliveira et al, 2008;Reimer & Mathieu, 2006;Sribney & Reddon, 2008). In studies produced by Lara et al (2004) and by Schwartz and Waldo (1999) on psychoeducation and counseling groups, imparting information was found to be among the most important helping factors, a result that might be explained by the type of group under study. Emerging through the exchange of advice and information concerning challenges faced by participants (Yalom & Leszcz, 2005), this helping factor was of high importance in groups of an educational nature.…”

“…In the present OAE program, the educational context, the multiple changes in subgroups, and the absence of a common life problem may help explain the absence of this helping factor. The same might be said for catharsis, which emerges in particular in groups with participants experiencing problems of depression (Lara et al, 2004), of substance addiction (Ahmed et al, 2010), and of sexual delinquency (Reimer & Mathieu, 2006;Sribney & Reddon, 2008). The first concerned a support group, the others therapy groups.…”

From feelings of imprisonment to group cohesion: A qualitative analysis of group analytic psychotherapy with dual diagnosed patients admitted to an acute inpatient psychiatric unit

“…These results suggest the importance of group support and emotional expression in hospitalized patients. Both factors are described in previous literature as important group therapeutic elements (Lara et al, 2004). Yalom & Leszcz (2005) refer to these factors when they describe their therapeutic factors.…”