Addiction group therapy

This form of group therapy is a means of aiding the addictive personality, primarily conceived for use without standard professional principles or therapists. It is administered by a group of peers who have similar problems and is used, for example, in cases of addictive persons (drug addicts, alcoholics) who tend to need help urgently and are unlikely to persist with any indirect therapeutic approach. Great emphasis is placed upon unrestrained directness in communication aimed at by-passing defences, rationalizations, evasions and politeness. Hostile confrontation and verbal brutality between participants is encouraged in what are called games, which offer immediate catharsis of aggressive feelings. This form of therapy is associated with the first example of its kind known as [Synanon]

, which was a community where the participants lived together and where the emotional growth of each member was an ongoing concern for each.