Working at the Periphery: a View of Group Psychotherapy in Australia

Australia is a vast country with a relatively small population living in cities separated by long distances. It is a wealthy country with a highly developed mental health system in which psychotherapy has a limited, but recognized, place. Group psychotherapists are a small but active community within that mental health world. Limitations in numbers, influence, and authority have left group psychotherapy on the margins of universities and major mental health organizations. A commitment to thoughtful clinical work, a willingness to reach out to vulnerable people, and some signs of flexibility in clinical approaches promise a strengthening of the role of group psychotherapy in Australia.