[Do cognitive-behavioral group therapies in the treatment of anxiety disorders have an advantage over individual treatments?].

Group cognitive-behavior therapies in the treatment of anxiety disorders for adult psychiatric patients were historically developed on the basis of validated individual treatments. They have been widely employed and studied for social phobia, panic disorders, agoraphobia and obsessive-compulsive disorders, with generally positive results similar to those obtained with the corresponding individual methods. The cognitive-behavioural group treatments for generalized anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorders have not yet received sufficient validation. The results of evaluative research show that the format of the therapy (individual or group) does not appear to predict the outcome. Therefore an indication for an individual or a group therapy cannot be made on the basis of the diagnosis alone. It has to be based on other criteria, in particular economical, organisational or clinical. Group therapies can certainly offer advantages in comparison with individual procedures, even if they cannot always fit perfectly the specific needs of every patient. Indication has to be made individually, in order to allow the therapists to judge their patients' capacities and interest to participate in a group program.