ABSTRACT
As early as 1927, Ernst Simmel thought of attempting to apply psychoanalytic knowledge in the treatment of patients suffering from “advanced compulsive neuroses and phobias” and from “hysterical illnesses in which functional organic disturbances impair their ability to live”. By necessity, the concepts and models of psychoanalytically orientated in-patient treatment must be supplemented by other theories and concepts. In addition to the psychoanalytic theory of mental illness and therapeutic processes, theories and models that contribute to our understanding of social behavior and the interaction of small and large groups and organizations, the therapeutic community, and the therapeutic milieu are especially necessary. A central part of hospital treatment is the work conducted along psychoanalytic lines with large groups and ward meetings, therapeutic management of the ward or the hospital environment. The focus in psychoanalytically orientated hospital treatment encompasses a central aspect of the patient’s disorder on which the team members involved in the treatment of the patient orientate their therapeutic strategy.
