EVALUATION OF THE USE OF GROUP THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES FOR VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION

Abstract

In the brief span of thirty years since J. L. Moreno2 first originated the term "Group Psychotherapy," the science has flourished and found acceptance in many diverse fields of application. It is strange though, that a methodology which had its beginnings, in this country, in the area of rehabilitation, has not achieved the same popularity as in psychiatry, education, industry, and social sciences. However, with the exception of rehabilitation psychologists and counselors in settings such as hospitals, sheltered workshops, training units, and evaluation centers, there has been no widespread application within the field of vocational rehabilitation counseling. The major attempts at adapting group methods in these settings have been reported by Pohlman (1951), Rosenberg (1956), Selkin (1960), and McDaniel (1960). The advantages of group counseling procedures have been largely overlooked, however, by the practitioners in vocational rehabilitation to whom they have the most to offer. It would appear that the rehabilitation counselor working in governmental agencies has special problems which lend themselves to group procedures. This avenue and specific applications have been previously discussed (McDaniel, 1962), and in support of these ideas, the present investigation has been designed to provide a preliminary experimental evaluation of the use of group counseling techniques in a state vocational rehabilitation agency.