The cost of psychotherapy in a day centre

The Open Psychotherapy Centre is an autonomous, self-sufficient and non-profit psychotherapy day center, which is not financial supported by any organization inside or outside Greece. It has adopted from the very beginning (1980) the communal approach both in therapy and administrative structure and set a rather ambitious target: to provide psychotherapy to severely disturbed patients on a daily basis. Research data estimating the various forms of cost for such services are still very few. The aim of the present study is the measurement of psychotherapy's financial cost both for the patient and for the providing organization.

The results which have been arised confirm: a) the operational viability of the unit, b) the observance of the constitution's principles (i.e. good working conditions, practicing psychotherapy on a daily basis especially for the seriously disturbed patients, psychotherapy may be accessible to all patients, regardless their diagnosis or economic status), c) the low cost of psychotherapy for the patient and the providing organization, especially that of group psychotherapy (Group Analysis and Therapeutic Community) comparatively to dyadic psychotherapy.