Psychotherapy and the inpatient unit: a unique learning experience

This paper describes the advantages of an inpatient setting for the teaching and learning of psychotherapy. Contributions to this process derive from the continuous and intense expressions of conscious and unconscious dynamics, transferences, and object relationships by the patients, the obligation on residents to therapeutically engage in a relatively exposed way with all the patients under their care, the availability and familiarity of the staff supervisors who participate in assessments and decisions regarding patient management and psychotherapy, and the collaborative work of all the other team members. Conditions of the setting which make this possible are the strong psychodynamic orientation of all the staff, the resident's role as manager and psychotherapist, the staff psychiatrist's role as supervisor and team leader, and the completely open communication among all the treating personnel.