Therapeutic factors in a group for parents with mental illness

Parents with mental illness face many parenting related challenges that are exacerbated by the lack of services focusing on these needs. A study was conducted with 35 persons who participated in a group for parents with mental illness in Israel in order to examine the parenting related concerns the participants might bring up in a group modality, and the therapeutic factors in the group process. The findings illuminate the centrality of the parenting role in the participants lives and the value of the group modality as a tool enabling the participants to reveal their vulnerabilities. The therapeutic factors at work in the group, such as, imparting information, interpersonal learning, socialization techniques helped them deal with the difficulties of fulfilling their parenting roles at the same time they cope with their own mental illness.