Reworking the Myth of Personal
Incompetence:
Group Psychotherapy for Bulimia Nervosa
page 2
LONG-TERM VERSUS SHORT-TERM GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY
For the specific issues of the eating-disordered patient, a long-term,
open-ended psychotherapy group may represent the most effective form of
treatment. While a short-term group may deal well with symptom management and
support, the long-term group provides fairly predictable stages of development
in which core dysfunctional beliefs may begin to emerge safely. The long-term
group allows for the reestablishment of trust that has somehow been shattered
in the patients' formative years. As patients begin to interact, doubts,
misperceptions, and fear of intimate contact emerge. Honest feedback can be
offered in a way that is new and different for the patient who has been
accustomed to criticism. Within the "in vivo"5 culture of
the group, the total personality and modus operandi of each individual can be
understood, analyzed, and corrected.
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Intense feelings
of alienation and shame are reduced by sharing the secret of the binge-purge
cycle.
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The consistency and stability of a long-term group allows for the
development of group cohesiveness, which provides a foundation for the
maturation of trust-a crucial factor in the recovery of the eating-disordered
patient. Members may begin to shift the focus of their concern from symptoms to
the sharing of their true selves. It is particularly within the context of
long-term group treatment that the eating-disordered patient develops her
social skills and tentatively ventures forth into interpersonal intimacy.
continued
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