Abstract

A strong case has been made in the literature that the effective treatment of adolescents in long‐term psychiatric hospitals or residential treatment centers must include treatment of the family. This highlights the need for a family treatment model that integrates a long‐term psychodynamically oriented residential treatment approach with family systems theory. Such a model must take into account the stages of inpatient treatment and must address therapeutic management of the physical, emotional and psychological aspects of separation between the adolescent and the family. A bridge between family systems theory and psychoanalytic theory can be found in object relations theory. A four‐stage model for working with families having a hospitalized adolescent member is described in which each stage builds upon the previous one. Progress through the stages depends upon the establishment of a relationship in which the family perceives the hospital as supportive, nonjudgmental, helpful and trustworthy.

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