Past, and Here-and-Now of Group Therapy in Korea / 신경정신의학

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: A group therapy includes various types: group psychotherapy, psychodrama, activity therapy including occupational therapy as well as recreation therapy, art therapy of drawing, music, dancing and drama. It has long been in use for in-patients, and became more trendy at day hospitals and community mental health centers after the enactment of a mental health law. It was surprising that a few researches have been made in the field, including a basic fact finding and that a few Korean psychiatrists have been inclined toward it. Meanwhile, we finished a research work on: how a group therapy has been conducted so far, its current status across the country, possibly the best way to heal, and deal with, psychiatric patients. METHODS: The 1997 annual report by Korean Neuropsychiatric Association, has been available for random sampling in the following categories: training hospital, general hospital, psychiatric hospital, clinic with admissions, clinic without admissions, day hospital, community mental health center. Telephone polls were conducted on contents of frequency and status of a group therapy available with psychodrama, main therapists, co-therapists, duration & times of therapy, size of group therapy recipients etc. RESULTS: The group therapy is broken down into the order of percentage; Art therapy(30.9%), Activity therapy(28.4%), Group psychotherapy(27.2%), Others(24.1%), Large group therapy(23.2%), with the psychodrama(10.9) least of all. Against in-patients(61.6%), the group psychotherapy shows its greatest diagnosis for a combined gorup(51.4%), and finds its biggest type in a general group(83.2%), Against in-patients(65.3%), the psychodrama diagnosis is mostly conducted for a combined group (69.4%). For a main therapist, the group psychotherapy is taken care of by boardmen(31.1%), and social workers(29.5%), while psychodrama by psychiatric boardmen(36.1%), and social workers(36.1%). On the other hand, for a co-therapist, the group psychotherapy is done by nurse(40.8%), while psychodrama by social workers(25.9%), and volunteers(23.5%). At a time most group psychotherapies takes some 60 minutes, psychodrama 120 minutes. Group therapies take place each once a week. Its participation amounts to 26.0(+/-17.8) for a psychodrama, and to 11.0(+/-5.8) for a group psychotherapy. Clinics with admission rooms(83.6%), exceedingly enjoy more group therapy than ones without (2.2%). CONCLUSION: The group therapy is run at most hospitals as the main part of a psychiatric treatment. However, the job has been undertaken on a small scale by outpatient clinics as well as psychiatric boardmen. Therefore, more attention is urged toward a group therapy, its professional training, plus its more brisk business at outpatient clinics.