ROOMING-IN IN PSYCHIATRY - TREATMENT INDI CATIONS AND PROCEDURE

Basing on the concept of rooming-in as the joint hospitalisation of me ntally ill mothers and their children, which was developed in gynaecol ogy and paediatrics, the differential indication, setting variables an d therapeutic strategies relevant for inpatient psychotherapy were des cribed. Therefore, 15 cases treated in the Department of Psychiatry of the Medical University Luebeck were reviewed. It will be demonstrated that a differentiated treatment approach with mothers with severe non -psychotic disorders can be realised. The advantages of the rooming-in approach seem to be on the one hand more adequate possibilities in th e diagnosis and treatment of problems of mother-child interaction invo lving the nursing group, and on the other hand the rooming-in approach allows to identify connections between specific biographical events a nd actual conflicts related to birth and bringing up of the children.