Effectiveness of integrative group psychotherapy in somatoform disorders

Valeriy Vital'evich Vasil'ev; Alsu Ildarovna Mukhametova

Effectiveness of integrative group psychotherapy in somatoform disorders

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Vasil'ev VV, Mukhametova AI. [Effectiveness of integrative group psychotherapy in somatoform disorders]. Rossiiskii psikhiatricheskii zhurnal [Russian Journal of Psychiatry]. 2025;(4):56-63. Russian

Abstract

In this interventional prospective cohort sample study 34 patients with different variants of somatoform disorders (the main group) were examined for the purpose of assessing the effect of integrative group psychotherapy on the clinical manifestations of these disorders. The control group included 31 patients with a similar pathology. Patients of the main group underwent a course of group psychotherapy according to the authors' program, built on the integration of techniques from different methods and directions of psychotherapy and focused on the correction of basic personality-psychological factors of somatoform disorders – alexithymia and somatosensory amplification. Patients of the control group received therapy provided for by the state standard of specialized medical care. The duration of the therapeutic course in both groups was 30 days, the patients' condition was assessed using clinical-psychopathological and psychometric methods (qualification of the leading psychopathological syndrome, use the scales SCL-90-R, 4DSQ and Yakhin-Mendelevich questionnaire). Treatment results in relation to clinical manifestations of mental disorders in patients of the main group in most indicators statistically significantly exceeded those in patients of the control group, in addition, in a catamnestic examination one year after the end of psychotherapy course, the evaluated indicators not only did not worsen, but some of them significantly improved. The conclusion about the effectiveness of the proposed approach to group psychotherapy of somatoform disorders is drawn and its further implementation in clinical practice is recommended.

Keywords somatoform disorders; psychotherapy of somatoform disorders; group psychotherapy; integrative psychotherapy

References

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