ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on private practitioners and upon psychiatric practice in outpatient clinics. Data were available from a one-in-three sample of the private practitioners of New York State in 1964. Most private psychiatrists are careful to provide a supportive atmosphere for their patients, with provision for privacy and even anonymity. In contrast to entering a private practitioner's office, there were obvious formal and informal controls at the in-boundaries of mental health clinics. Although in general the private practitioners and both clinics were receiving their patients from the supportive end of the spectrum, the dropout group included significantly more informal referrals and fewer from both medical sources and the more controlling nonmedical agencies. The psychiatrist in private and clinic practice appeared to be a specialist who would have liked to be more specialized than other agencies wanted him to be, but specialized in a different kind of task.
