Dr. Molyn Leszcz is an internationally recognized authority on group therapy. "He is pre-eminent in Canada and throughout the world," says Dr. Joel Sadavoy, Psychiatrist-in-Chief at Mount Sinai.

"Groups emphasize the concept of affiliation, of social support," says Dr. Leszcz. "It's a much more collaborative and democratic form of therapy because people learn not just from the professional but from one another, and there's a certain kind of power in that."

Dr. Leszcz recently completed, in collaboration with Dr. Pam Goodwin, a large study on the benefits of group therapy for women with metastatic breast cancer. "Working in groups helped women come to grips with the most difficult issues in life, regarding mortality, how to use limited time and energy, how to live life if one's life may be fore-shortened," he says.

During the SARS crisis in Toronto, Dr. Leszcz used group interventions to help front-line health care workers at Mount Sinai cope with their stress, fear and isolation. "Everyone was wearing heavy-duty N-95 masks, which was certainly a first for me, meeting with people in groups without being able to see their faces."

Dr. Leszcz is now working with Dr. Irvin Yalom on the latest edition of The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, a leading psychiatric textbook.