Short report
The structure of Patient-Staff Meetings in a Psychotherapeutje Community
M.P. Bolten
An Analysis of Patient-Staff-Meetings is made, departing from a survey of literature by Hartman (1978). From the viewpoint of improving relations between staffmembers, the PSM seems a cumbersome instrument. Regarding the interactions between patients and staffmembers, the PSM only has value as a ritual or passtime. The PSM is antitherapeutic in that it discourages intimacy and promotes game-playing. When used as activity (problemsolving) there exist better ways of structuring transactions between patients and staff. The widespread discontent about PSM is thought to originate in the games played during these PSM's.