Assistance for mentally-ill patients can be performed in psychiatric units of general hospitals. At the Psychiatric Ward at Ribeirão Preto Medical School Hospital of the University of São Paulo, Brazil, the assistance offered follows the therapeutic ambient model. Group psychotherapy with clients is one of the approaches provided. The group meetings occur every day, are 1-hour long, and follow theoretical principles of group therapy with inpatients, emphasizing “here-and-now” interventions. They are coordinated by psychiatry residents and observed directly by a group therapist preceptor.

To present a framework of group psychotherapy interventions with inpatients in a psychiatric unit of a university general hospital based on the analysis of one group meeting.

To characterize a group psychotherapy intervention with inpatients in a psychiatric unit as a model for assistance and teaching.

Exploratory and descriptive qualitative research. It was performed a content analysis of an in loco transcription of a group meeting with 11 patients and 4 staff members.

The following themes were discussed: illness-, self- and other perceptions; respect and relationships within the unit; discharge. Patients had participated freely and interacted among themselves. The group’s coordinator guaranteed the meeting’s structure and facilitated discussion and exchanges among patients.

Being concerned with the group’s structure in a therapeutic ambient model is essential for its development. However, it has been noticed that the coordinator’s flexibility tends to favor patients to transpose their experiences along group meetings and the therapeutic ambient to their lives outside the hospital.