Community mental health nursing: a social network approach

This paper describes an intervention technique that the psychiatric nurse may find useful in community mental health settings. This technique is called social network intervention. It attempts to combine the best of traditional clinical psychotherapeutic method with the advantages of a social systems approach for working with the patient in psychiatric distress. The technique is based on the assumption that the solution to a variety of human predicaments lies within the collective instrumental and affective resources of a patient's social network. The vehicle for accomplishing this is the "Network Session" during which a mental health clinician convenes the patient and his/her social network to help plan and resolve the difficulty. A Case Report demonstrating the use of the technique is included.