Group therapy with OCD – development and outcome of diagnosis specific treatment of patients with OCD in groups

Meta analysis studies show important effects of cognitive therapy and behavioural therapy for OCD, but further knowledge about resource saving formats such as group therapy is needed and there are only few relevant studies available. We developed a manual for cognitive-behavioural group treatment of patients with OCD. Twenty four patients from a clinical population participated in this naturalistic study and were administered Y-BOCS, SCL-90-R and GAF before and after treatment. Significant improvement was observed on all measures. Y-BOCS pre-treatment was 26.54 (±7.6), Y-BOCS post-treatment was 20.40 (±8.3) and effect-size was 0.81. Other studies show larger effects, and we discuss methodological issues and elements in our therapy that could be modified to improve the outcome for future patients. In conclusion, our findings support cognitive-behavioural group therapy for OCD, but studies with randomised controlled groups and long-term follow-ups are necessary to further develop the group format in treating OCD.