A new format for the community meeting.

A new and more elaborate format of the Community Meeting was introduced in order to enhance patients' growth, by diminishing their regression into symbiotic dependency and by providing an opportunity for leadership and initiative, for self-reliance and self-efficiency. At the same time, the C.M. provided an opportunity for the staff to change its role and self-image of a protective, patronizing authority figure to one involving a more equal and more democratic relationship with the patients.