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Manual-based group psychotherapy for bipolar disorder: a feasibility study
M S Bauer1, L McBride, C Chase
1Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Brown University Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Providence, RI 02908-4799, USA. Mark_Bauer@brown.edu
The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
|October 15, 1998
Summary
The Life Goals Program, a structured psychotherapy for bipolar disorder, demonstrated high fidelity when exported to new therapists and sites. The program effectively improved patient knowledge and helped many achieve personal functional goals.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Psychotherapy Research
- Bipolar Disorder Treatment
Background:
- The Life Goals Program is a manual-based group psychotherapy for bipolar disorder.
- It aims to enhance medical treatment engagement and functional status.
- This study assessed the program's exportability, tolerability, and patient impact.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if the Life Goals Program procedures could be successfully transferred to therapists other than the originators.
- To quantify the tolerability of the program's procedures.
- To assess the impact of the program on patients' functional status and knowledge.
Main Methods:
- An open feasibility study was conducted with 4 therapists across 2 sites and 29 Veterans Affairs Medical Center patients.
- Therapist training was provided, and adherence to manual procedures was measured.
- Process indices related to tolerability and patient impact were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Therapists achieved 90-96% fidelity to phase 1 psychoeducational content.
- 69% of patients completed phase 1, with 56% showing good to excellent participation.
- Phase 1 completion significantly increased bipolar disorder knowledge; 70% of phase 2 patients reached their goals.
Conclusions:
- The manual-based Life Goals Program is exportable with high fidelity to other therapists and sites for phase 1.
- The intervention is reasonably well-tolerated and demonstrates good process achievement for both phases.
- Compared to other manual-based psychotherapies for bipolar disorder, it shows content consistency with variations in delivery mode.