Conference Agenda

Multifamily group therapy seems to be a promising and cost-saving modality of therapeutic collaboration with patients presenting a wide range of mental health disorders and their families. Multifamily groups can be easily implemented in community services, offering a context of support, exchange and sharing, while combating social isolation. The Symposium focuses on research, organizational and clinical aspects. that emerged from experiences of systemic multifamily group therapy embedded in mental health services across three different European countries.

This study investigates family treatment expectations and experiences of Family Support Groups (FSGs) for family members of mentally ill offenders. Family members were interviewed before (n = 20) and after (n = 17) attending an FSG. Results show that family members hesitated or were curious about the FSG, expected to receive peer support and universality of problems, to receive information and advice and thought about the safety and respect of the group. Family members experienced the treatment as helpful because it was supportive, they gained new insights and they felt relieved and satisfied. Many family members see the guidance of the therapists and the differences in family and gender roles as an added value of attending an FSG. However, considering the limitations of the study, future studies should gain insight in and stress the importance of the meaning of therapeutic processes for family members confronted with different psychiatric disorders and/or situations.

The Athens Multifamily Group Therapy Project (A- MFGT) aims to provide systemic multifamily therapy to youths who experienced a first psychotic episode and their families. Seven groups of families have been conducted from 2017 to the present. Since March 2020, therapy is delivered online, through a videoconference platform. Few evidence is available regarding the viability of multifamily systemic therapy in an online setting, despite a new culture of the use of ICTs has widely developed in e-mental health care during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. The presentation aims to describe the main themes collected as feedback from family members who participated to online multifamily systemic therapy program, after the first psychotic episode presented by one of their adult children. More specifically, their experiences related to the specificities of the online setting will be highlighted.

The NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20-23/24, is aimed at promoting less ‘medicalised’ routes for people experiencing difficulties into a wider range of support. The Hub in Greenwich, SE London, is a new initiative sitting between Primary (GP level) and Secondary (Specialist Community Mental Health) services. It is a partnership between NHS and Third Sector organisations, providing an intake service for referrals from GP’s and, in the future, from organisations and individuals themselves. Since it is a new, relatively radical initiative, it provides an opportunity to embed systemic thinking from the outset, from a new assessment tool (DIALOG+) to routinely assessing clients with significant others and providing multi-family groups as part of the group-work provision. We know that multifamily groups are a proven context where clients of mental health services and their significant others can skills-share and learn new routes to solving old dilemmas . However, multifamily groups - where all protagonists are equal partners in elucidating dilemmas and generating solutions, may require a shift in thinking and practice for clinicians, clients and significant others. This presentation documents the process of working with new clinicians in a new organisation introducing a new model and discusses the dilemmas and rewards.