Abstract

It is impossible to speak about group therapy or group in the optic of mental disability without considering the therapeutic context into which these activities are inserted. The Geneva canton decided and this as far back as the seventies to dedicate a specific psychiatric care for the intellectually disabled, when needed. Parallel to this, thanks to the family associations possessing a specific political will, have developed living and working environments, where activities are both occupational or leisurely, and which following a “built to fit” measure have tried to meet the different needs of this extremely diverse population. Therefore in Geneva, parallel to our unit, there exists a “mental retardation network”, that is to say a socio-educational structure which is both vast and well organised, of which both private and public institutions receive important canton and/or federal subventions.

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