From Therapeutic Community to Self-Sufficient Community

The authors believe that the concepts of therapeutic community and community psychiatry have been too narrowly understood and have been limited in application by various organizational strictures. They believe that through a greater understanding of social systems (through systems theory) natural communities such as the family and the larger social constellation can realize their potential as sources of help. The changes required to help systems such as institutional and community treatment programs become therapeutic include achieving consensus and commitment. To do so, a leader must replace traditional authoritarian leadership with a dynamic, coactive process of directing and moving with responsible people toward a common goal.