Page 51 - Personality disorders and insecure attachment among adolescents
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Fourth, therapeutic alliances and contact with specific persons on the treatment staff were cited.
‘I had damaged the trust of the group and the team, and had to think about what I had done
and how I wanted to restore confidence again. In retrospect, I am very grateful for it, because this was really a turning point in my treatment.’
Fifth, having to complete adolescent tasks, such as going to school, taking a job and practising hobbies, was described by many as not having been easy.
‘I started school, oh dear that made me scared, I did not even dare to stand up and walk through the classroom. Luckily I started with a slow build-up programme.’
Catharsis
‘Catharsis’ was characterized as the process of learning to cope with and to express painful
emotions, and was described by many patients. Certain moments when they succeeded for the first time in being honest about their feelings and showing them, were described as important.
‘I showed my sadness and anger. It was weight off my shoulders. It all became much calmer, not only in my head but also in my stomach.’
Metaphors like wearing a mask were used to describe their old way of dealing with stress and negative emotions.
‘I want to thank you for the fact that I was allowed to have my fighter jacket on, but especially for helping to take it off.’ (In this example, taking the fighter jacket off meant showing emotions in contact with the group instead of pushing the group away.)
Identification
Successful behaviour among group members was imitated by many; ‘identification’, in the sense that group members and team members provided examples for new behaviours, was not found.
‘Hello dear group and team, first the well-known phrase: here I sit, on the farewell bench. (This farewell bench referred to a seat on which the departing group member sat during the farewell ritual, and wrote his or her name. The sentence ‘Here I sit on the farewell bench’ occurred in almost every farewell letter).
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