| Summary: | The study took place at three acute psychiatric wards at a large psychiatric hospital in northwest Russia. Previously, there had been no systematic group activities for the patients and limited multiprofessional cooperation. During a 2-year period, multiprofessional staff groups were trained in the use of groups as integral parts of the milieu therapy. The following factors promoted the success of the training: the support of the leaders and their participation in the program, trainers’ knowledge in Russian language and culture, and supervised clinical group experiences. In addition, it appeared particularly fruitful that participants, through their participation in an experience group, were able to see the parallels between their here-and-now reactions to the trainers and aspects of their relationship to authority figures in the hospital. The exploration of these transference reactions made them aware of their projected feelings of anger, self-criticism, and worthlessness and facilitated creativity and cooperation with their leaders. The program was evaluated as successful and was continued for new staff groups.
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