Page 46 - Personality disorders and insecure attachment among adolescents

All 12 therapeutic factors of Yalom and four additional therapeutic factors – namely ‘self- esteem’, ‘turning point’, ‘resilience’ and ‘epistemic trust’ – were identified. The final 16 therapeutic factors are described in detail below, with the use of illustrative quotations (noted by both psychologists) for their richness of description. To outline the context of an example, a quotation sometimes contains more sentences than the one that was associated with that specific factor. This example might also illustrate other therapeutic factors that were detected. Moreover, certain therapeutic factors seemed inevitably linked to each other. For example, the therapeutic factor ‘cohesion’ seemed to provide a necessary basis for ‘interpersonal learning’ factors; thus, these factors were often found together. The number of participants who mentioned specific therapeutic factors appears in the quantitative section. Indicators of frequency were employed to categorise quantity as follows: ‘many’ (approximately 85% or more), ‘most’ (more than 50%), ‘minority’ (less than 50%), and ‘few’ (less than 15%). Altruism ‘Altruism’ was defined as group members helping and supporting one another. This factor was mentioned by a minority of participants, who encouraged the group to persevere and to believe in themselves. In addition, wise words, song lyrics and poems were included to illustrate this point. ‘Fortunately, there were many people around me to help me.’ Cohesion ‘Cohesion’ was defined as a sense of belonging to the group and being understood and accepted. This factor was expressed in many ways in the farewell letters, for instance by saluting the group with a nickname and using metaphors for the facility. ‘Dear, dear, dear, dear, dear, dear everybody, Yes, the little bird is ready to spread her wings and fly out of the nest. The nest that’s called the Albatros.’ Almost all letters contained a paragraph describing in detail the joyful and playful moments among the group members, as well as shared moments of despair. Furthermore, participants expressed their gratitude to group members and treatment staff. ’Besides all the heavy therapies and tears, I have also experienced so much fun with you Albatrosses.’ 42