title: Therapists' group attachments and their expectations of patients' attitudes about group therapy.
abstract: A large body of literature has supported the application of attachment theory to the understanding of psychotherapy. In addition, a more recent social psychological literature is exploring the application of attachment theory to the area of group dynamics and group process. The current study is designed to integrate these two distinct bodies of literature. In a preliminary fashion, we examined the relationship between group therapists' group attachment styles and their assumptions and expectations of their patients' attitudes about group psychotherapy. Seventy-six therapists completed the Smith, Murphy & Coats (1999) measure of group attachment style. They also completed the Revised Group Therapy Survey (Carter, Mitchell, & Krautheim, 2001) from the viewpoint of a typical patient they treat. As hypothesized, therapists with more group attachment anxiety assumed that patients would hold more negative myths and misconceptions about group treatment than therapists with less group attachment anxiety. The utility of a group attachment construct in future research and practice is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Doctor of Psychology Program at George Washington University in Washington, DC 20037, USA. Marmarosh@aol.com
authors.forename: Cheri L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Marmarosh
authors.forename: Victoria A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Franz
authors.forename: Mosetsanagape
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koloi
authors.forename: Rebekah C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Majors
authors.forename: Amanda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rahimi
authors.forename: Jonne G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Ronquillo
authors.forename: Rachel J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Somberg
authors.forename: Jessica S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Swope
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zimmer
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D006801:Humans; D009769:Object Attachment; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group