GROUP-PSYCHOTHERAPY ON A CHILDRENS UROLOGY SERVICE

This paper describes an ongoing program, in a large metropolitan hospital, of weekly group meetings for hospitalized children on the Babies Hospital Urology Service, led by a pediatric psychiatrist and a psychiatric social worker. The purpose of the program is to help children cope with the multitude of fears and anxieties that can arise in the course of hospitalization. Although not described in detail, corollary weekly group meetings are also held with parents of the children. The authors describe the format of their meetings with child patient groups, whose composition is, by its nature, a constantly changing one. Examples are excerpted from, typical group sessions, indicating the kinds of problems that surfaced and how they were dealt with. Ways in which group interaction and support contributed to the positive results of such meetings are also shown. The authors sugges t that their program can be utilized in a variety of hospital settings. © 1979 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.