Putting the illness in its place: discussion groups for families with chronic medical illnesses.

A new psychosocial intervention for families and patients experiencing the chronic phase of a disabling medical illness is described. The intervention, a short-term, highly structured, psychoeducationally oriented, multiple-family discussion group (MFDG), was developed within the context of a clinical research program and has been successfully applied to a heterogeneous range of disabling medical illnesses. This report includes a detailed description of the treatment model, the format and content of group meetings, and initial clinical impressions regarding MFDG efficacy.