- Group psycho-education can be a good starting point for people reluctant to do ‘therapy’. Different individual therapies can be tried later.
- Group meetings can give members the opportunity to:
- support one another
- share common experiences
- reduce feelings of isolation
- help confirm the individual’s experience of illness.
- Psycho-education can help with acceptance of a BPII diagnosis, making the illness seem more ‘normal’ or less frightening.
- It can increase knowledge about BPII and managing relapse and provide practical skills for daily life.
- Most people are able to continue with and complete psychoeducation. Around 73 in 100 people were able to continue psycho-education sessions over a six-month period.
- Many group psycho-education programs are affordable. Some are covered by Medicare with or without having to pay a one-off fee. Other groups require members to pay for workbooks and make a weekly gold coin donation.
- There are a variety of programs available. These include shorter face-to-face and online programs. For more information, see “The REACH program” and “Moodswings” under Further Resources on page 86.
