The mystery of the well-attended group. A model of Personal Construct Therapy for adolescent self-harm and depression in a community CAMHS service

Abstract

This paper describes a style of weekly group therapy offered in a city CAMHS department for adolescent girls who are depressed and self-harming. Research has found that such girls typically have other psychological problems, such as anger, anxiety, low self-esteem, poor school performance, grief reactions and poor school attendance. This paper describes a group based upon Personal Construct Theory (Kelly, 1955) which addresses the management of symptoms and the problems underlying them. It takes into account each girl's unique history and her personal priorities, and group sessions aim to encourage each individual to understand and address their own difficulties. The group is open, has no set number of sessions to attend, and has no set week-by-week curriculum. Instead, it takes the individual's personal construction of their difficulties and works with it through the principles and techniques of Personal Construct Therapy. The group has been well-attended and has a positive atmosphere in sessions with the emphasis upon each individual taking responsibility for her own progress inside and outside the group. This paper will describe the principles and practice that are used in the group and the need for further research into the efficacy of this therapeutic treatment is highlighted.

Keywords:

• adolescents
• depression
• self-harm
• group therapy
• personal construct therapy

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Pat Watts, Community Mental Health Nurse at CAMHS, Coventry, who has provided valuable discussions about this group and her work in it. Thanks also to the members of the Coventry Personal Construct Psychology supervision group for their comments and support in the development of this paper.

Declaration of interest: This work is carried out as part of NHS work in Coventry and Warmickshire Partnership Trust. It has received no additional funding.