[Transitional hostels as an alternative to returning the psychiatric patient to his family (author's transl)].

The article describes some of the prerequisites necessary for deciding whether a psychiatric patient can be returned to his family after inpatient treatment or whether further rehabilitation is preferably promoted via a transitional hostel. The (partly subconscious and not verbally expressed) conflicts, interests, desires and expectations of the persons involved are also discussed. In a regionalized care system developed on a sociopsychiatric basis, the dynamic aspects of solving a problem unfold within the triangle: Patient--Relatives--Therapeutic team. This network should be maintained even if the decision is in favour of a transitional hostel, and should be developed further particularly if the transitional function of the hostel is expected to produce a rehabilitative effect.