The Directive Group: short-term treatment for psychiatric patients with a minimal level of functioning

This paper describes a three-level interdisciplinary group program for treating patients on a short-term psychiatric inpatient unit. Special emphasis is given to the lowest level group, the Directive Group, which addresses the needs of patients with a minimal level of functioning, a population that is usually neglected in terms of group therapy. The author developed the Directive Group based on her own clinical experience and later refined it using the model of human occupation as a conceptual framework. Therapists have modified and refined the program since its inception in July of 1977. The benefits and limitations of the program are discussed with applications for other health care settings.