Interpersonal Metacognitive Therapy in Group Format for Adolescents with Personality Disorders Description and Clinical Illustration of the Treatment
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Abstract
An increasing number of adolescents attending child and adolescent mental health services exhibit symptoms compatible with an emerging personality disorder (PD). Although such diagnoses in adolescence are not without challenges and controversies, early identification and intervention are crucial to prevent the devastating progression of symptoms, reduce the duration of untreated disorder, and support the subsequent recovery, development, and quality of life of these young individuals. The main purpose of this work is to present a group treatment protocol developed for the entire spectrum of PDs in adolescence: the Metacognitive Interpersonal group Therapy for adolescents (MIT-GA). MIT-GA is an interpersonal and markedly experiential psychotherapy aimed at promoting metacognitive skills, and improving symptoms and interpersonal problems common in young people with an emerging PD. To this end, the main foundations of the treatment, its general structure, and session content are first described. Next, the working methodology is illustrated through the case of Nora, a 16-year-old adolescent with a dependent PD. To gauge the therapy impact, quantitative and qualitative results before and after the treatment, as well as 6 months after its completion, are presented, focusing on symptoms and interpersonal and general functioning. In conclusion, some reflections on working with PDs, the advantages and difficulties of MIT-GA, and several future research lines to improve the treatment and prognosis of these pathologies in the adolescent population are outlined.
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