Abstract

This work presents the results obtained with a therapeutic social skills group for adults living with intellectual disabilities and psychiatric co-morbidities. The concept of social skill is used in cognitive behavioral therapy approaches. For the last four years in the community psychiatry unit within the department of psychiatry of mental development, we have organized social skills groups. These groups are meant for ambulatory patients with intellectual impairments and psychiatric co-morbidities in conjunction with a lack of social skills. Each patient is under individual cognitive behavioral therapy treatment, which makes it possible to precisely evaluate the issues and the patient's expectations. In addition to the individual sessions, the patients participate in a monthly semi-open selfaffirmation group. Each patient completes a variety of questionnaires and scales which serve as a baseline, as well as questionnaires at the end of each session to provide information about the dynamic of the group and its progression.