GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY IN A NAVAL PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE

Abstract

Group psychotherapy has been one of many hopes of the military psychiatrist in his warfare against mental illness within the services. Unable often to predict the rate of patient admissions, the number of his associates or helpers, and the policies and demands of the armed forces as a whole, he must accustom himself to change, to frustration, and sometimes even to momentary failure. While there has been great progress in providing adequate care of many types in military settings, including, in recent years, somatic therapies, military psychiatrists have sometimes found there were not enough hours in the day to see their patients repeatedly in individual psychotherapy sessions.