ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an insight into the working of a therapeutic community which aims to help people in deeply disturbed states of mind by means of therapeutic team-work and milieu therapy. It discusses the nature of some aspects of the container/contained relationship in the light of W. Bion work, using as basis some of the dynamics of the Wednesday staff meeting of the Arbours Crisis Centre. The chapter describes briefly a therapeutic container which has evolved taking into account the nature of the psychological development of the patient. The therapists of the Centre share a history together and having gone through several ups and downs, have learned to know and accept the different aspects of one another. In addition, or perhaps because of the preceding factors, the therapists work within a clear delineation of roles and responsibilities, including the built-in ambiguities in their roles, and respect each other's space.
