| Abstract: |
Reports some of the themes and issues that arose during the first pilot group of the Meaning-Centered Group Psychotherapy (MCGP) intervention. The group was comprised of 4 men, aged 39-75 yrs, with terminal cancer. A substantial portion of many of the sessions was devoted to structured discussion of Viktor Frankl's principles. Group members were asked to describe 1 or 2 meaningful events in their lives, keeping in mind Frankl's suggestion that there were 3 basic sources: (1) creative work and causes; (2) relationships, art, and beauty; and (3) the attitude one takes toward unavoidable suffering. The importance of connectedness to others was to become a constant motif throughout the meetings. The first theme to manifest itself, however, was the issue of denial, which lead to the introduction in later sessions of the theme of death and the esoteric question of an afterlife. Cognitive reframing and the positive and negative changes in self the group members experienced as a result of their illness were also examined. Perhaps, the ultimate usefulness of MCGP is in helping foster a feeling of connectedness both between people and within each individual, as illness forces one to explore those issues that are truly meaningful and important at such a critical point in one's life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved). |
