[Group therapy of schizophrenia in the inital phase of the disease].

The initial (prepsychotic) period of schizophrenia is characterized by different degrees of involvement of various levels of personality organization depending upon the basic tendencies of the disease process, and the going forward of unimpaired personality reactions, which are not related to processes of alteration (including inadequate forms of psychological defense), allows the states of patients and the characteristics of their adaptation to be determined. There is a need to differentiate the functions of group psychotherapy and its methods at the level of emotional stimulation, social activation and stimulation of communication, development of certain behavioral stereotypes and increasing the degree of social security, optimizing associations, partial changes of attitude and behavior, discussion of conflicts, finding adequate forms of psychological compensation, and development of a behavioral pattern. It is in this way that it is possible to work out a certain "hierarchy" of methods that may be used successively.