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What Are Psychoeducation Groups?
Psychoeducation groups offer valuable instruction to people with mental illnesses or other psychosocial issues. These groups differ from “typical” support groups, where people spend a lot of time sharing with and speaking to other participants. Instead, mental health professionals are likely to lead psychoeducation groups and their job is to impart knowledge or skills that may aid in recovery, improve coping, and/or elevate treatment compliance rates. Many groups are organized around a mental health condition or address psychological stressors like trauma.
In general, most psychoeducation groups have at least one teacher who is a mental health professional. This person provides basic information about the condition being addressed. For example, participants in depression groups might learn about its causes, symptoms, and treatment. When the focus is on a mental illness, the teacher often extensively discusses medication therapies. Strategies to achieve medication compliance are generally presented with a strong argument that failing to take medications on schedule will result in greater illness.
Additionally, these groups help participants identify the familial and professional supports that can be of help if a condition worsens. Psychoeducation groups could also instruct members about basic coping strategies, community resources, and emergency services. In some instances, a group offers a combination of psychoeducation and support. For example, a group for people with bipolar disorder might combine psychoeducation and a basic introduction to cognitive behavioral therapy to increase coping skills.
Many psychoeducation groups welcome the presence of family members. Sometimes spouses, parents, or siblings unintentionally exacerbate psychological issues when they don’t understand a loved one’s problem. In other cases, generational or cultural misunderstandings disrupt support to the person with an illness or psychosocial issue. Moreover, even the person affected by the problem may not really comprehend why it is occurring. Thus, whole families can often benefit from participation in a psychoeducation group, and this has been consistently linked to better recovery and higher treatment compliance rates.
There are significant differences in how long a psychoeducation group lasts or whether any formal notice for attending the group is required. Most mental hospitals and partial hospitalization programs offer psychoeducation in a group setting regularly. Teachers may determine what they will teach based on the patient population at the time.
Group meetings offered in these settings tend to be more general than ones focused on a specific disease. Outpatient groups tend to have very specific curriculum, and often require payment and formal registration. The subjects presented could take several weekly sessions to fully cover.
Psychoeducation is thought of as a useful adjunct to other therapies for behavioral illnesses or ongoing psychosocial stressors. It is best combined with ongoing individual therapy and medication, as needed. Some people may feel uncomfortable learning in a group setting. In these cases, they might want to ask individual therapists for psychoeducation on a one-to-one basis.
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