Social Climate Comparison of Mutual Help and Psychotherapy Groups

Mutual help groups for the mentally ill (n = 33) were significantly different from psychotherapy groups (n = 25) on 9 of 10 perceived social climate dimensions from the 90-item Group Environment Scale. The mutual help members perceived that their groups had more active leaders, greater group cohesion, more structure and task-orientation, and fostered more independence. The members of psychotherapy groups perceived that their groups encouraged more expression of negative and other feelings and showed more flexibility in changing the group's activities. The present findings could be used to improve cooperation and referrals between mutual help groups and the mental health community.