[Group psychotherapy with epileptic adolescents during initial vocational training]

When the therapeutic alliance between physician or psychotherapist, and epileptic patient is seriously disrupted (non-compliance) group psychotherapy is capable of bringing about marked changes in coping with the epileptic condition. Even a brief therapy of 20 sessions with epileptic young people undergoing initial vocational training contributes to their learning to perceive problems present in their vocational-social development, as well as various disease phenomena and therapeutic possibilities. Eight young adults aged 18-20 years who had been referred to the Annedore Leber Vocational Training Centre for psychological and neurological examination suffered from frequent seizures, which had in each case been attributable to non-compliance. On completion of therapy, serum levels of anti-epileptic drugs had reached the therapeutic range. None of them failed to complete their vocational training.