MODIFIED CHILDREN'S GROUPS AND MORENO'S IMPROMPTU THERAPY

Abstract

Nobody who writes about therapeutic groups and describes a modification of the accepted techniques in the manipulation of the therapeutic and psychodynamic factors, could do so without being aware of J. Moreno's pioneer work, particularly in the field of group therapy with children. It was with this in mind that I ventured to record at the 4th International Congress for Psychotherapy at Barcelona in 1958, and subsequently elsewhere in print, a modification in the accepted and described technique of group therapy for maladjusted children. It referred to play groups, based on a pilot experiment in an English rural town, and later extended to other clinics under my direction in the same County. These groups appear to be clearly psychotherapeutic agencies in the sense of J. Moreno's definition because the therapeutic welfare of the individual members of the group is the immediate and sole objection, and this is being attained by the means of psychiatric principles, including the analysis and group dynamics, in order to clarify the diagnosis, make a prognosis and treat maladiustments of the personality