Therapeutic rationale of a psychiatric day center

1573-6709

Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Medicine

Summary and Conclusions The therapeutic rationale of an out-patient neuropsychiatric day center has been described as a unified and planful intervention in a set of highly maladapted behavior patterns and attending feeling states. The day center approach to the treatment of the ambulatory schizophrenic is discussed as a type of milieu therapy, on an outpatient basis, which is designed to modify patterns of social and vocational maladjustment, and to deal with the disorders of thought, affective control, and motivation so commonly seen in this type of patient. The therapists maintain realistically modest notions about how far they can go in modifying major psychoses of long duration. They do, however, share the conviction that almost any patient can be helped to achieve a higher level of adjustment. So far, there have been enough instances of increments to give the firm impression that this approach to the problem holds much promise for the future.

Electronic Resource