The Group Rupture Resolution Rating System (G-3RS)
Danielle Baldwin, M.A. and Giorgio A. Tasca, Ph.D.
Understanding with whom therapeutic alliances are formed in therapy groups and how tensions or ruptures in those alliances emerge and are repaired may be key to maximizing the benefits of group therapy (Lo Coco et al., 2019). To date, there has been limited research on ruptures and repairs in group therapy, partly due to the lack of a method for rating these processes from videos and transcripts. Recently, we developed a coding system to identify alliance ruptures and repairs in group therapy – the Group Rupture Resolution Rating System (G-3RS; Baldwin et al., 2025). The G-3RS is a companion to the most widely used method of rating ruptures and repairs in individual therapy, the Rupture Resolution Rating System (3RS; Eubanks & Muran, 2023).
Alliance rupturesreflect a decline in the therapeutic alliance caused by a problem with the emotional bond or a disagreement on the goals or tasks of therapy (Safran & Muran, 2000). Withdrawal ruptures reflect members’ attempts to move away from the work of therapy (avoidant storytelling, denying feelings, minimal responses). Confrontation ruptures reflect members’ attempts to move against the work of therapy (becoming defensive, controlling, or complaining about therapy; Safran & Muran, 2000). With the G-3RS, we extend these alliance rupture definitions to reflect the multilevel, interpersonal nature of group therapy and include alliances formed between members and with the group-as-a-whole (Lo Coco et al., 2019). Hence, alliance rupture markers in groups could occur within one of five different group levels: member to therapist (M-T), member to member (M-M), member to group (M-G), group to therapist (G-T), and group to member (G-M). Alliance repair markers in groups could occur within one of six different group levels: M-T, M-M, M-G, T-M, T-G, G-M, and G-T.
Researchers can use the G-3RS to further their investigations into group therapy and to develop an understanding of how ruptures occur in the group and their association with group processes and outcomes. The G-3RS could also provide group therapists, educators, clinical supervisors, and clinical trainees with a guide to understand how to identify the complexities of alliance ruptures in a therapy group and to consider the various repair strategies open to a group therapist.
A freely downloadable copy of the G-3RS manual is available on Research Gate at: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10122.79040.
References
Baldwin, D., Tasca, G.A., Garceau, C., & Braham, J. (2025). The Group Rupture Resolution System (G-3RS) Manual (Version 1.0) [Unpublished manuscript]. School of Psychology, University of Ottawa. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10122.79040
Eubanks, C. F., & Muran, J. C. (2023). Rupture Resolution Rating System (3RS): Manual Version 2022. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29780.17282
Lo Coco, G., Tasca, G. A., Hewitt, P. L., Mikail, S. F., & Kivlighan, D. M., Jr. (2019). Ruptures and repairs of group therapy alliance. An untold story in psychotherapy research. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 22(1), 58–70. https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2019.352
Safran, J. D., & Muran, J. C. (2000). Negotiating the therapeutic alliance: A relational treatment guide. Guilford Press.