ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that individual psychotherapy in a residential setting differs sufficiently from out-patient psychotherapy to justify an effort to outline some dimensions of the problem. The therapist's relationship with the patient shifts from the more traditional office-centered neutral role to that of a more active participant in the child's daily life. We would define residential treatment as therapeutically directed institutional or group care for emotionally disturbed children in which all possible ways of helping are utilized and integrated into a clinically oriented and directed treatment plan for the individual child. The integration of psychotherapy and milieu therapy is most important during the time the child is actively rejecting the residence, in order to facilitate positive views toward the child and avoid the calcification of negative stereotyping. Intensification of peer group difficulties and dependency conflicts are described in the chapter as they emerge in the various phases of milieu therapy.
