Group psychotherapy in chronic psychiatric outpatients: a Toronto model

Measuring Group Process in Nurse-Facilitated Support Groups for Psychosocial Club Members

Nearly half of patients with serious mental illness (SMI) lack friends and social connectedness-building blocks of recovery. While support groups have been found to promote friendship-building, there is little information about the process. This study examined the use of nurse-facilitated support groups by Psychosocial club members with SMI. Participation, core members, therapeutic factors, content discussed, and satisfaction with the intervention were measured. Perception of unmet need for a friend and membership in a group was measured before and after the intervention. Participation increased over time. Core members emerged. Yalom's therapeutic factors evolved. Discussion included sexually transmitted diseases, safety, making friends, health problems, problems with landlords, and adverse events such as victimization. The unmet need for a friend decreased. Two-thirds were satisfied with the groups. Support groups are low-cost psychosocial interventions that can be used to help patients with SMI move toward recovery.

Benefits of long-term group therapy to individuals suffering schizophrenia: A prospective 7-year study

The benefits of a long-term weekly therapy group for individuals suffering with schizophrenia have been evaluated. The data were derived prospectively from 308 sessions over 7 years in an outpatient hospital setting. Results show trends in the individual members to engage in more emotionally meaningful interactions in the group. The group has served not only as a container for the depression, anxiety, and psychosis of its members but also for the development of their humor, support, and insight. Although there was no control for variables other than group participation, the data suggest that each member, given enough time and support can increase his or her own level of maturation and functioning in a group setting.

The model-scene in group psychotherapy with chronic psychotic patients

According to Lichtenberg (Lichtenberg, Lachman, & Fosshage, 1992), the model-scene is a scene imagined by the patient and the therapist that recalls the emotional content of a pattern of a relationship, which the patient has repeatedly experienced with a caregiver. In chronic psychotic patients, mechanisms of splitting, projection, and emotional self-mutilation make it particularly difficult to understand the archaic structures of interaction that maintain an influence on present behavior and internal emotional experience. The model-scene may be a useful instrument to integrate fragmented and dispersed mental elements. The authors describe their experience in an analytically oriented therapy group that was carried out in an institutional setting. The technique was based on the creation of model-scenes, starting from the relationships of individual members in the group.

Group therapy for schizophrenia: combining and expanding the psychoeducational model with supportive psychotherapy

Combining psychoeducation and supportive psychotherapy resulted in a successful group experience for schizophrenics in a long-term care setting within a Veterans Administration Medical Center. This article describes the two approaches and discusses the ways in which they were combined and enhanced in a structured manner. A case study is presented and practice implications are explored. Important accomplishments and behavioral changes were observed in group members participating in this group. Schizophrenics with problematic behavioral histories and recurrent active psychoses were able to participate productively, work toward greater independence and achieve community living.