ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the therapeutic evolution of two women patients suffering from anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, which took place in a once-a-week heterogeneous group-analytic group in an outpatient setting. The group-analytic models and research, in their modified form as either long-term or short-term, inpatient or outpatient, homogeneous or heterogeneous groups, with the result that it is impossible to differentiate the group-analytic factors and processes that favour or hinder the therapeutic benefit. Treating neurotic and psychotic patients together in long-term psychotherapeutic groups has been reported as leading to favourable outcomes, and a similar one was expected to be achieved by treating anorexic/bulimic patients in a group-analytic group with neurotic and psychotic patients. K. Valbak suggests that the outpatient heterogeneous group-analytic group could also be a promising specialised treatment for bulimic women. Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic groups with eating disorders present insignificant outcomes while individual/interpersonal psychodynamic psychotherapy has been proved effective.
