Crisis induction and parental involvement: a prerequisite of successful treatment in an inpatient setting

In residential treatment programs, oftentimes the relevance of the procedures and methods utilized in situations encountered on the outside are lost sight of. The utilization of a stress induction model in conjunction with parental consultation within an inpatient setting makes it a great deal easier to conceptualize the relationship between problems the child has in the program, how they are handled and the way problems are dealt with at home. Involving the parents in dealing with program "crises" allows one to see firsthand how the family interacts under conditions of stress and permits systematic interventions into this system. If the goal is to return the child home, the parents and the child must be convinced that changes in behavior are a result of their methods of interacting with each other and not merely a result of "magic" or contact with new sympathetic adults outside the home.