Integrated Group Psychotherapy Program [IGPP] for Multi-Diagnosed Clients

ABSTRACT

This article describes a group therapy–centered program geared toward the treatment of individuals with co-occurring disorders, including addictive disorders, borderline personality disorder and other mental health issues which involve difficulties with emotion regulation. Group therapy plays a vital role in their recovery. Over 18 years, the author has developed a treatment model that offers an integrative approach to group therapy and individual treatment encompassing psychodynamic and other empirically based therapies, especially dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Its value lies in its therapeutic effectiveness with hard to reach clients, in its practice-based evidence, its team-building and management approach, its training component and its capacity for replication.

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to John Caffaro, Andy Eig, Dominick Grundy, Katherine Heeg, Joseph Ruggiero, John Schlapobersky, and Tzachi Slonim for their varied and thoughtful contributions to this paper and the work on which it is based.