Group support for the families of the mentally ill

Abstract

A model is presented for a professionally led, short-term supportive group for the relatives of adult schizophrenic clients. Studies documenting the stressful impact of schizophrenia upon families are cited as indicating the need for supportive intervention. The model, used with families in a day treatment center, draws conceptual and methodological components from the fields of social psychiatry (particularly the literature on self-help groups), from social group work, and from group psychotherapy. The process of the group includes the expression of affect, growth in cognitive understanding, and the reporting of behavioral change. Among the therapeutic elements are catharsis, identification with orders, the creation of an interpersonal community, the stimulation of pride in existing strengths and assets, and the recognition of the legitimacy of personal needs and of helping resources outside of the family. The support and guidance that the relatives gain through the group benefit the handicapped family member by fostering an accepting attitude toward him and his program of rehabilitation and by facilitating both a felt sense of family unity and a discrete individuation between the family and its schizophrenic member.