Broken couple. How to think a new relationship in a group with partners of traumatic brain injured patients

Journal title GRUPPI
Author/s Ilaria Locati, Noemi Benetti, Floriana Caccamo, Elisabetta Ceroni, Milena Grande
Publishing Year 2017 Issue 2016/2
Language Italian Pages 15 P. 145-159 File size 199 KB
DOI 10.3280/GRU2016-002012
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After an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) there might be problems in the areas of thinking and behaviour which are not as easy to see and recognise as many physical disabilities. The patient and his family run into a traumatic event (the ABI) which is sudden, uncontrollable and intensive. After discharge the phase of family and community reintegration can have a new traumatic impact on the family members. The couple relationship is actually broken and partners have to manage personality changes and the loss of affection, together with all the other daily stresses and strains, which can sometimes be very difficult to overcome. They can feel helplessness, anger and guilt and turn to defence mechanism such as acting out, denial and negation. In our experience the homogeneous, time-limited groups for family members help working through these feelings, increasing the effect of therapeutic factors such as universality, imparting information, interpersonal learning, and group cohesiveness. Group treatments (Fasolo, 2002) increase the chance to modify guilty and helplessness feelings into resignation and adaptation feelings.

Keywords: Trauma, Group, Homogeneous groups, Time-limited groups, Couple relationship, Therapeutic factors.

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Ilaria Locati, Noemi Benetti, Floriana Caccamo, Elisabetta Ceroni, Milena Grande, Coppie inter-rotte. Ripensare la relazione in un gruppo per coniugi di persone con una Grave Cerebrolesione Acquisita in "GRUPPI" 2/2016, pp 145-159, DOI: 10.3280/GRU2016-002012