Network based therapy: theoretical outline of a support model for adults and adolescents struggling to cope

Abstract

Purpose

The Service User Network (SUN) follows the ethos of the therapeutic community and draws upon coping theory and psychoanalytic understanding of personality disorder to provide a supportive group-based resource to adults struggling to cope. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The original SUN Project has been successfully replicated, with the further addition and integration of psychoanalytically – derived approaches to the treatment of personality disorder within that replication. The most notable theoretical additions come from the mentalization-based therapy model and the Independent School of Psychoanalysis. In this paper, the author expands the original description of the model to include these theoretical additions, together with a fuller account of the original tenets of the treatment paradigm than previously described.

Findings

This provides an outline of a network-based therapy (NETBT) as a first stage in manualizing the model, as well as extending its use to support adolescents.

Originality/value

Network-based therapy is a new, evolving group treatment for adolescents and adults struggling to cope.

Citation

Jones, B. (2015), "Network based therapy: theoretical outline of a support model for adults and adolescents struggling to cope", Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 145-162. https://doi.org/10.1108/TC-11-2014-0036