The author holds periodic staff family meeting once a month for the family treatment of the schizophrenic patients in a male closed ward.
The meeting is held for the purpose of getting understanding the staff of the hospital and therapeutic purposes to the family of the patients, and it is also expected that the staff gets acquainted with the family environment of the patients and gets deeper understanding of their symptoms. The author had noticed that the family of the schizophrenic patient had family problem frequently which gave negative result for the treatment and their rehabilitation.
The meeting is an effective means to dissolve the problem as a group therapeutic method.
The family problems found at the meeting are as follows:
1) Extreme subjectivity for understanding the patients' disease.
2) So-called double bind communication.
3) Over-protection.
4) Psychopathic personality of the parents, especially the father.
5) Rejective attitude toward the patient for fear of destroying the family prestige
In order to make the family understand the problem, Hobbs' group centered therapeutic approach rather than direct talking to the family was found effective as an educational method.