Abstract
Previous investigations into concerns that people with a personality disorder (PD) may be excluded from treatment revealed that one quarter of Mental Health Trusts provided no service for this patient group (NIMHE (National Institute for Mental Health in England), 2003). It subsequently became a recommendation by the Department of Health (DH) that mental health trusts in England and Wales provide such services. In line with this recommendation the DH commissioned 11 new PD treatment services in England, without specifying the model of service to be used. This lack of specification was in recognition of the open state of the theoretical and evidence base for treatment of PD. In 2004, the Service User Network (SUN Project) was funded as one of these pilot services. The Sun Project adopts the ethos of the therapeutic community and draws upon cognitive theories and psychoanalytic understanding of PD. People who use it have been involved in the design, development and implementation of the service. This paper describes the replicable service model for community-based open access support groups for people with PD, and its theoretical underpinnings. © The Author(s).