[Origin of problematic constellations in psychiatric family care. Theoretical considerations and presentation of the course of a discontinued family care episode].

Psychiatric family care is a therapeutic environment for mentally ill long-term patients that pays particular attention to the individuality of the patient, contrary to the hospitalising psychiatric clinic. The influence exercised by the host family on the positive development of the integration process is undisputed in literature, but has been hardly investigated so far in respect of its actual contents. Those who are practically engaged in family care have been discussing for some time whether successful integration is effected by "good host families" or by the special constellation that develops between the host family and the guest. The present article tries to emphasise (following a review of the literature) on the basis of a discontinued family care episode that integration into a host family is not a static affair but a highly sensitive process determined by the biography of the guest and the integration between host family and guest (or guests). The possible consequences for the care process are discussed.