A family system's approach in consultation liaison services

Starting from difficulties in the cooperation of clinical and psychosocial medicine an alternative view is suggested following the principles of general system's theory and family therapy. The request for consultation is under such considerations regarded as the expression of an interactional crisis in which the whole system (patient, family and clinic) has become involved. Practical suggestions are made concerning the treatment setting, the methods of intervention and the initiation of an ongoing therapeutic contact.