GROUP-PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH CHRONIC-SCHIZOPH RENIC INPATIENTS - IMPLEMENTATION, CONSOLIDATION, AND EVALUATION

When group psychotherapy with chronic schizophrenic inpatients is intr oduced into the ward of a clinic there is an experience of a ''ward cu lture'' comparable to a corporate culture. This culture is considered to be an essential prerequisite to a low-cost, low-time, effective, hi gh-quality treatment. The incorporation of patients, family, and staff in the group process is discussed, regarding both formal aspects and contents. The method chosen is based on the key issues of the analytic ally oriented psychotherapy. The experience of loss is a continuously verbalized and permeating subject. This is true not only for the ward group as the larger therapeutic group but also for the smaller therape utic group and the family group. Group psychotherapy processes as well as grief-coping mechanisms are being pursued and discussed.