Which factor is not delineated by Irvin Yalom as a curative factor?

• A. Altruism, universality, and existential learning.
• B. Manifest dream content and insight into the unconscious mind.
• C. Catharsis, cohesiveness, and instillation of hope.
• D. Imitative behavior and reenactment of family experiences.

Answer: (B)

Understanding Yalom’s curative factors in group therapy means focusing on what happens in the group process and how members help each other heal through shared experience and interaction. Yalom identifies factors like instillation of hope, universality, imparting information, altruism, corrective recapitulation of the primary family group, development of socializing techniques, imitation, interpersonal learning, group cohesiveness, catharsis, and existential factors. The option that pairs manifest dream content with insight into the unconscious mind isn’t part of his listed group-curative factors. Dream work and tapping into unconscious material come more from psychodynamic, individual therapy approaches than from Yalom’s group-centric framework. So this item is not delineated by Yalom as a curative factor. The other options reflect elements he does describe, such as altruism, universality, existential concerns, catharsis, hope, imitation, and family relational dynamics.