The Lonely Professionals: A Case for Group Therapy With Resistant Influentials

This article explores the commonalities across the personal and professional characteristics of resistant influentials (RIs) and makes a case for their need for community, accountability, and, specifically, group therapeutic counseling interventions. Research is presented on group counseling, specifically types of group counseling, recent scholarship, theoretical approaches of group psychotherapy, and practitioner-based intervention strategies. Research is discussed on the nature and unique challenges of RIs, specifically attorneys and faith leaders. Finally, the authors make a case made for the need of group counseling for RIs and provide specific reasons why this is a uniquely challenging commitment for these individuals.