Group Radical Openness

‘This is an original, thoughtful, well-written, and practical text for mental health professionals. Based on the authors rich and extensive clinical experience, this volume describes their novel group intervention for adults who are overcontrolled. This is a client group for whom mental health professionals often struggle to offer something therapeutically meaningful as the transdiagnostic nature of their difficulties goes unaddressed. I highly recommend it to students and experienced therapists alike.’

Gary O’Reilly, Professor and Director, Doctoral Training Programme in Clinical Psychology, University College Dublin

‘In this fantastic new book, Rachel Egan and Richard Booth introduce their innovative approach to working with excessive self-control known as Group Radical Openness (GRO). The book outlines the origins of GRO, how and why it developed, some of the key ideas underpinning it, as well as a helpful and engaging session-by-session description of the group. This manual will be essential reading for any clinician, but more specifically, for those wanting to help people with excessive self-control.’

Chris Irons, PhD,Director of Balanced Minds, co-author of The Compassionate Mind Workbook

‘Richard and Rachel's book sets out their humane and practical approach towards helping people whose lives are negatively affected by overcontrol. Working in a specialist personality disorder service, we have found GRO invaluable as an accessible and acceptable treatment for a highly distressed group of people. I can highly recommend this book to clinicians working with people who suffer problems related to overcontrol.’

Tim Agnew, MBChB, FRCPsych,Consultant Psychiatrist NHS Scotland, Chair of the Scottish Personality Disorder Network

‘This book is an outstanding addition to clinical care. The sessions in GRO are thoughtful and, in many cases, highly original. The most impressive part is how Richard and Rachel structure the programme, resulting in the participants becoming more empowered as the group progresses, and taking ownership of their therapy. In my own work with Trauma, I see how GRO would be invaluable to those who are overcontrolled and embarking on a healing journey.’

Deirdre Fay, MSW,author of Becoming Safely Embodied and Attachment Based Yoga & Meditation for Trauma

‘Group Radical Openness (GRO) has allowed us to provide treatment for men in our service who are overcontrolled. The personal testimonies of the men who have completed GRO showed how much they gained from participating in the programme. They found that the content increased their personal insight and resulted in many of them becoming more flexible, more open to emotion, and more connected with others. We would highly recommend Rachel and Richard’s book to anyone looking for an effective way of working with overcontrol.’

GRO Clinical Team, Westgate Personality Disorder Treatment Service, HMP Frankland