Short-term group psychotherapy. A successful approach to functional complaints

The term "functional illness" describes a large group of patients who have psychologically determined physical symptoms for which they repeatedly seek medical treatment to little or no avail. At the Mason Clinic, Seattle, we in the section of behavioral medicine have devised a psychotherapeutic format for treating these chronically disabled patients. With short-term intensive group psychotherapy, patients with functional complaints are removed from the discouraging isolation of their home environment for three or four weeks, yet are spared the expense and stigma of psychiatric hospitalization. Group support is coupled with intensive self-inquiry in daily psychodynamic treatment. This immersion in a variety of therapeutic modalities helps foster new adaptations to past and present psychological conflicts. In addition to symptomatic relief, some degree of constructive and enduring personality change takes place.