title: Combined group and individual schema therapy for borderline personality disorder: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Schema Therapy (ST) is a highly effective treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). In a group format, delivery costs could be reduced and recovery processes catalyzed by specific use of group processes. As patients may also need individual attention, we piloted the combination of individual and group-ST.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two cohorts of BPD patients (N = 8, N = 10) received a combination of weekly group-ST and individual ST for 2 years, with 6 months extra individual ST if indicated. Therapists were experienced in individual ST but not in group-ST. The second cohort of therapists was trained in group-ST by specialists. This made it possible to explore the training effects. Assessments of BPD manifestations and secondary measures took place every 6 months up to 2.5 years. Change over time and differences between cohorts were analyzed with mixed regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dropout from treatment was 33.3% in Year 1, and 5.6% in Year 2, without cohort differences. BPD manifestations reduced significantly, with large effect sizes, and 77% recovery at 30 months. Large improvements were also found on general psychopathological symptoms, schema (mode) measures, quality of life, and happiness. Cohort-2 tended to improve faster, but there were no differences between cohorts in the long term.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study was uncontrolled, training effects might have been non-specific, and the sample size was relatively small.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Combined group-individual ST can be an effective treatment, but dropout might be higher than from individual ST. Addition of specialized group-ST seems to speed up recovery compared to only individual ST.
authors.affiliation: Community Mental Health Center Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Veronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dickhaut
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Arnoud.Arntz@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors.forename: Arnoud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arntz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Borderline personality disorder; CBT; Clinical trial; Schema therapy