The pressure to deal with an increasing proportion of chronic patients through short-term care may lead to an elaborately structured milieu that reduces staff's anxiety and gives them a sense of doing something for the patient without having to explore his psycho-pathology in depth. However, the major task in milieu therapy is to diagnose the needs of the individual patient and form a rational treatment plan. Therapist and staff should ask. "What can the patient not do for himself , and how can we help him learn to do it?"
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