[Report of experiences in psychological consultation in a gynecologic clinic].

Potential and limits of psychotherapeutic practice in a general hospital. It is a known fact that psychological care of women in general hospitals is limited. The limits are defined by the way hospitals are run and the way people interact. In fact, psychological and medical treatment should be considered equally effective tools for achieving optimum results. However, the old boundaries are falling and the system is changing. Whenever people come together, with their different views of reality and different ideas of how best to cope with it, there is a potential for discussion. In the hospital context, these different viewpoints often clash. In spite of these limitations, psychological practice in a hospital is often not only feasible, but necessary. It is often effective in crisis intervention as well. Even in relatively brief psychotherapeutic encounters, proper methods used in a sensitive manner can bring about changes at deeper emotional levels. Women need this additional therapy. In the context under study here, psychotherapy should not be limited to either behaviour therapy or longer-term procedures. Another cooperative model involving both physician and psychotherapist is discussed, a model our laws, and society at large, have not yet given due support.