ABSTRACT
The therapeutic community or therapeutic milieu movement has had a profound and extensive effect on mental illness and its treatment. Some institutions frankly designate themselves as therapeutic communities. Many other hospitals have therapeutic community wards or sections, and it is hard to find a progressive mental hospital which does not subscribe to some therapeutic community concepts. In addition to more traditional group psychotherapy, there are activity, government, living unit management, and informal groups as well. Functions of the Psychologist in the Therapeutic Community include the Maximum Use of Groups rather Than Individual Psychotherapy, The Use of Oneself in as Therapeutic a Way as Possible in a Wide and Varied Number of Situations, Assessment of the Patient's Problems by Using Information from a Variety of Sources. It also includes Active Involvement of Relatives in the Patient's Treatment, the Use of Community Resources, and Teaching Therapeutic Community Skills to Other Personnel, Research and Program Evaluation.
