Draws from personal and professional experiences to provide a narrative perspective on journal writing. Delineates 10 reasons why journal writing can serve as a powerful adjunct to therapy, drawing on examples from journal therapy programs for inpatient psychiatric hospitals. (SR)

Addresses differences among competence, commitment, and mental illness; the right to privacy; and the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Reviews professional motivations in relation to both sides of controversy over rights of psychiatric patients to refuse medication. Presents position for social work profession that stands for…

Notes that overriding a mentally ill person's refusal to take medications may pose a dilemma around the issue of patients' rights, despite opinion of many authorities that refusal is often illness related. Presents information to help promote understanding of reasons why those who work with mentally ill people should be ready to override their…

Discusses what a poet can offer severely disturbed psychiatric patients and how that is distinct from what a clinician offers. (SR)

Describes the forces that influenced the geographic unitization of state hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s. Discusses the extent to which this change met its original goals and analyzes the factors that prevented it from fully doing so. (Author)

Show how poetry writing proved to be an effective and efficient therapeutic tool for a homeless, alcoholic male suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. (SR)

Discusses the process of hospitalizing clients both voluntarily and involuntarily. Examines legal, ethical, and procedural aspects of the commitment process and highlights the counselor's role in this process. (Author)

Notes that, although mental health professionals provide services in psychiatric hospitals, their activities raise ethical issues largely unaddressed in professional literature. Sees systems-oriented therapists working in these settings as facing ethical dilemmas not encountered by those who work with individuals. Discusses six ethical issues…

Contingencies operating in the health care industry can have direct effects upon applications of behavioral technology to the hospital treatment of psychiatric patients. Although behavioral technology has made little impact upon the general practice of psychiatry, shifting economic and political contingencies may favor the specificity,…

Although status offenders (young people defined as incorrigible, runaways, or truants) have often been abused previously, their placement in hospital psychiatric wards constitutes further abuse. Insecure, insufficiently trained hospital staffers are one of the major problems that perpetuates the cycle of provocation and punishment in…

Argues that adolescents are not always psychologically mature enough to decide whether or not they need psychiatric treatment. Says that the role of the court should be to assure that adolescents receive adequate treatment, rather than to assure that they consent to treatment. (Author/GC)

Presents case of 29-year-old white male veteran, whose case illustrates need for coordination of inpatient and outpatient services for chronically suicidal patients to reduce risk during transition. Includes comments on case from Phillip Kleespies, Sarah Marshall, Teri Pokrajac, and Richard Amodio and from Mark Goldblatt. (NB)

Notes that disturbances periodically occur in psychiatric Adolescent Units. Argues that, by delaying full resolution of these social disturbances, maximum therapeutic benefit may be gained. Illustrated by clinical example, shows how prolonging complete resolution can effect change for adolescent, adolescent's social network, and Adolescent Unit…

Mereness describes her half-century career as an educator and pioneer in psychiatric and public health nursing. (SK)

Presents case study of 44-year-old male admitted to acute psychiatric unit and diagnosed as having chemical dependency, posttraumatic stress disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and major depression. Following description of the case, comments are given by Candace Coggins, clinical specialist, and Jane Zibelin, Director of Nursing, and by Lois…