Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis of Groups

In the following, cooperation between German researchers and clinicians is presented. This cooperation is organized in a workgroup on Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis (OPD) and Groups (OPD-G) to develop a new conceptualization for the understanding of groups based on the OPD. The OPD was initially developed for individual assessment and psychotherapy planning by psychoanalytically oriented clinicians and researchers in Germany. Their goal was to complement and enrich the descriptive and symptom-oriented classification systems of the ICD and DSM by including psychodynamic dimensions relevant to treatment planning and research. OPD is a multiaxial diagnostic system consisting of four axes: (I) Experience of illness and prerequisites for treatment (including PM), (II) interpersonal relations, (III) inner conflict, and (IV) personality structure (i.e., level of structural integration). The rating of the four axes is based on a 60-90-minute semi-structured psychodynamic interview (OPD Task Force, 2008).
The main challenge of the workgroup on OPD and groups is to find group equivalents for concepts formulated within the individual realm, which is mandatory because new phenomena and dynamics arise on the group level, which cannot be reduced to the individual or interpersonal level.

The aims of the workgroup are:
1. To develop group-specific concepts and operationalizations based on the OPD, created for individual assessment and treatment planning.
2. To provide both clinicians, supervisors, and researchers with group-specific conceptualizations for assessing and classifying the structure of the group and the common group themes.
3. To offer a tool for assessing the group's ongoing development, which can guide the group therapist's understanding of and interventions in the group.

The workgroup on OPD-G strives to integrate existing theory and findings of current research to provide group therapists, researchers, and supervisors with a systematic and reliable way to perceive and conceptualize what is going on in groups, including conceptualizing the themes, processes, and structure of groups. It reduces complexity and offers a framework for systematizing group information. When the workgroup has finished its book, the ambition is that an OPD-G rating can be an anchor point in clinical practice, research, and training and supervision.