Nourishing the body through use of process prescriptions in group therapy

This clinical report describes a creative process for developing between-session prescriptions which sustain and strengthen the momentum of change occurring in group treatment sessions.

Therapists in this model use words and phrases depicting the group as a body in order to guide the treatment process and develop between-session prescriptions. Maintaining a perspective of the treatment group as a body facilitates development of member commitment to the well-being of a physical and psychological body, and between-session assignments employ the developmental phases of the therapy for illuminating the disorder and effecting its resolution. This approach was developed in an ongoing, open-ended treatment group provided at a community mental health center for 14 years.

Examples are presented of process prescriptions which simultaneously address several dynamic levels: (a) the theme of interactions between the individuals in each session; (b) the particular stage of the group's development, and the ways this level of maturation determines how interactions arise and themes are selected; and (c) the underlying functions of the eating disorder.

Using the metaphor of the body to guide the language of between-session prescriptions links developmental group treatment process with members' day-to-day engagement with the eating disorder. By participating directly in the development of the treatment experience, the group members become committed to a developmental process that engages them in accountability and caring for a body, and, by extension, their own bodies.