The Therapeutic Community

First published in 1980, The Therapeutic Community surveys and discusses international developments and deficiencies in the therapeutic community field during the two decades since 1959, with the intention of providing a stimulus for change. It is based on the direct experience of Richmond Fellowship and draws on that experience amongst others to clarify therapeutic community philosophies and practice.

The intention of the Mental Health Act 1959 (UK) and of similar legislation elsewhere was not simply to rescue people from institutions but to initiate new and more effective forms of help. The book explores nature of the problems at that time, the recommended measures, the available resources, what was actually provided, and what impact was made on the problem. More specifically, it considers therapeutic community within government thinking and policy-making, and the consequent developments from these policies.

The contributions focus on the role of therapeutic community and represent the views and experience of those closely involved in this field, both professional and governmental, as well as helping to identify the particular contribution which the therapeutic community was able to make, in order to promote its full-scale development as part of mental health services.