Group therapy in the treatment of diabetes

The psychological burden imposed by diabetes is large but is often ignored by health care professionals who concentrate on its technical aspects. In this article we review the need for psychosocial support in the treatment of diabetes. Group psychotherapy, although most widely used in psychiatry, was in fact started by a physician almost 80 yr ago and has been used as an adjunct to the management of many medical conditions. Limited experience of group psychotherapy among diabetic patients has given encouraging results. Issues remain, however, as to which groups of patients might benefit most, who should act as group leader, and how one can best assess outcome.