To the Editor.—
I was glad to see Dr Myron F. Weiner's article (234:1181, 1975) on group therapy in "When friends or patients ask about...." Patients do wonder about group therapy, marathons, psychoanalysis, individual psychotherapy, growth groups, etc. There is a plethora of modalities offered, and many people rightly turn to their physician for guidance.
Dr Weiner correctly pointed out that the group leader is the most important consideration in making a referral. He then goes on to state
The referring physician should seek a sober, thoughtful practitioner rather than a faddish one who has found "Truth" in his method and does not recognize its limitations. Two examples of this kind of naive faddism are Transactional Analysis [TA] and Gestalt Therapy. Unfortunately, Dr Weiner thereby makes the implication that responsible, thoughtful physician-therapists do not practice TA or gestalt therapies. This implication is not true.
Qualified transactional analysts (called clinical members)
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
