Synopsis
This paper describes an intensive group psychotherapy treatment program in a public psychiatric hospital to which patients with severe personality disorder are referred. A unique structure within the patient/staff community is described concerning the inter-relationships of the closed psychotherapy groups and the relationships between the groups and staff within the broader therapeutic milieu.
The regular arrival and departure of the closed groups serves to activate relevant latent instinctual conflicts which are of significance in personality disorder.
The advantages of this approach to treatment of personality disorder are discussed and the results of evaluation of progress of the unit's first eleven closed groups are presented.