So as not to forget the forgotten. Group analytic psychotherapy for psychotic patients with a long history of mental illness,

The paper reports an experience of group analytic psychotherapy conducted in a Mental Health Center in Perugia for a group composed of patients with a long history of mental illness. The aim of the group is to give voice back to those psychotic patients who have always had little chance to be heard. Giving voice back also means giving dignity to those who have been completely depersonalized by institutional life. The paper describes the group’s setting and how rules have been adapted in order to make this experience as advantageous as possible. Moreover, at a certain point it became necessary to gradually introduce new variables to enable changes in the group dynamics. The characteristics of the setting arise from the necessity to introduce motivations and to address issues that are usually far from the patients’ consciousness. This experience suggests that even the most "regressed" patients find an existential condition in group analysis. Through shared experiences, they are led to new thoughts and connections, allowing for a continuity of discontinuous existences.

Keywords: Psychotherapy, group analysis, psychosis, homogeneous group, institution, setting.

Ingrid Hugnet, Gemma Bolognini, Daniela Marcucci, Paola Pedrotti, Bruno Chipi, Per non dimenticare chi è dimenticato. Un gruppo gruppoanalitico di pazienti psicotici con lunga istituzionalizzazione in "GRUPPI" 3/2012, pp 65-78, DOI: 10.3280/GRU2012-003005