Date of Conferral
4-22-2024
Date of Award
April 2024
Degree
Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.)
School
Psychology
Advisor
Chet Lesniak
Abstract
An increase in inpatient psychiatric admissions across the United States with a decrease in funding necessitated a need to investigate clinical and cost-effective interventions to meet the demands. Research indicated that therapeutic group interventions are clinically sound and cost-effective. However, there are few evidence-based group interventions designed for acute and chronically ill psychiatric patients. The objective of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Yalom group facilitators to determine whether the group could be further researched and adopted as a specialized group intervention for this population. Existential theory served as the theoretical framework for this study. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with nine Yalom group facilitators in an inpatient psychiatric unit to determine their understanding of the clinical impact of the group sessions on group participants after attending two or more sessions. Themes that emerged from coding and thematic analysis included engagement increased therapeutic benefit, patients benefited from sharing common experiences, participating increased social skills, and group structure was important. Findings could inspire positive social change through quantitative analysis that could lead to the restructuring of the Yalom focus group to meet the current need for group intervention for acute and chronically ill psychiatric patients. Findings may also provide insight into selecting appropriate group treatment in inpatient psychiatric units.
Recommended Citation
Abiona, Yemisi T., "Hospital Staff Members’ Lived Experiences of Facilitating Yalom Focus Groups with Inpatient Adults in Psychiatric Units" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15682.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15682
