Background: Psychotherapy not only has positive but also negative effects, which is especially true for group psychotherapy due to psychodynamic and interactional processes.
Methods: Using the UE-G questionnaire 71 patients who participated in cognitive behavioral group psychotherapy reported on negative experiences in the context of the group therapy. The answers were then validated in a qualitative interview.
Results: Of the patients 98.6% reported about at least one negative experience and 43.7% about severe or extremely severe negative experiences. Most prominent was the induction of hopelessness and demoralization by what patients saw and heard from other patients in the group.
Conclusion: Burdensome and therefore undesired treatment effects are regularly seen in group psychotherapy, because of treatment or patient related factors. In any case they must be taken into account during treatment, in the training of group psychotherapists and in quality control.
Keywords: Behavior therapy; Group psychotherapy; Negative experiences; Side effects; UE-G scale.