Group Process: An Adjunct in Liaison Consultation Psychiatry

Abstract

Many liaison psychiatrists have advocated staff meetings as a means of enhancing communications on a medical ward. This paper, based on a one year experience as a psychiatric consultant to a medical ward in a major teaching institution, describes the implementation of a weekly group meeting of nursing and social service staff as a component in the structure of an effective liaison service. Case material is presented to document the efficacy of group process as a teaching and therapeutic modality. By encouraging the verbalization of cogent feelings and anxieties in a weekly group meeting, members developed a sense of mutual trust and openness. In an atmosphere conducive to promoting clarification, understanding, and insight, the group members increased their self awareness of the psychological aspects of physical disease and the effect of their own emotions on the interpersonal process of patient care.