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Focused Brief Group Therapy (FBGT) was developed over a six-year period at Wright State University’s Counseling and Wellness Services by Dr. Martyn Whittingham. The approach was empirically tested, outcomes measured and adjustments made to refine and improve the method. It was created and run in a real world setting and as such, features many innovations based on the need to promote locally-based outcomes and to reduce premature dropout. FBGT is an eight-session, transdiagnostic model designed to reduce interpersonal distress (Whittingham, 2015). It is an integrative interpersonal model that incorporates behavioral activation and feedback with evidence based group therapy processes to maximize outcomes. Early, quasi-experimental research has shown statistically significant change across a range of conditions, including depression, social anxiety, hostility and interpersonal distress (Rotsinger-Stemen, 2013). FBGT incorporates Practice Based Evidence, a sub-set of Evidence Based Practice, to monitor and respond to issues in screening, process and outcome in real time. These innovations provide a framework for groups to select and prepare group members, begin rapidly, reduce premature dropout, and achieve strong outcomes. It blends objective assessment tools within a multicultural, humanistic framework and a process group approach.
FBGT is now utilized nationally and internationally, including in China and Singapore, across a wide range of practice settings, ranging from university counseling centers to outpatient hospital settings. After participating in this learning activity, practitioners will be able to explain the FBGT model, discuss its use in different therapeutic contexts, and apply key components in existing group-based interventions.
Dr. Martyn Whittingham, CGP, is a licensed psychologist in Ohio. He is a Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) and Division 49 (Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy) of the American Psychological Association (APA) as well as being a Certified Group Therapist. He is a former President of Division 49 (Society for Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy) of the American Psychological Association and also serves on AGPA’s Science to Service Task Force. He has previously been awarded the national Group Practice Award by the Association for Specialists in Group Work for excellence and innovation in group therapy.
Dr. Whittingham is the founder of Focused Brief Group Therapy (FBGT), an integrative interpersonal approach to reducing interpersonal distress in less than eight sessions. He has presented on the topic nationally and internationally, including recent addresses at Stanford University Psychiatry, Peking University Psychiatric Hospital and McClean Hospital a Harvard University-affiliated institution. FBGT has been featured in The Sage Encyclopedia of Theory in Group Counseling and Psychotherapy (Neukreg, 2015). The book and video are under contract with APA Press and will be coming out in 2022.
Dr. Whittingham has authored and co-authored numerous book chapters and journal articles and regularly gives presentations and workshops both nationally and internationally.
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