[The relations between family, patient and clinic in inpatient psychiatric treatment and psychotherapy (author's transl)].

The patient's relatives are rarely included in the treatment afforded to the patient in both psychiatric and psychotherapeutic and psychosomatic clinics. The family is in fact often regarded as a disturbing factor. So far, only few publications have devoted any attention to the importance of the family for the initiation and successful or unsuccessful course of inpatient treatment in neurotically and psychosomatically disturbed patients. The present article surveys the most important publications dealing with the interrelations between family and clinic before, during and after inpatient treatment. Furthermore, therapeutic techniques for including the relatives in the treatment process are described. These publications have mainly originated from contacts with psychotics and their families.