This article presents an account of a comprehensive eighteen-day, multiteam, multidisciplinary training approach to family systems inpatient acute psychiatry. It has been developed and tested as part of the SYMPA project (systems therapy in acute psychiatry), which aims to establish systemic case conceptualizations and interventions as routine practice in acute psychiatry. Content, didactic characteristics and specifications of this training are discussed. To illustrate the practical implementation of the training, specifically designed exercises are described and a clinical case is included. The article concludes by presenting first results of the research on implementation indicating that the training had a significant impact on the quantity and quality of conversations with patients.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

SYNOPSISThree variants of a simple reaction time task with regular and irregular series of different preparatory intervals (Pls) were presented to schizophrenics and a control group of alcoholics and normals: the visual warning signal (WS) either (1) remained fixed, (2) shrank at a constant rate, or (3) changed in size erratically. Time information provided by shrinking WSs reduced the average reaction time in all groups and attenuated the crossover effect (COE) of schizophrenics, although even here more schizophrenics than controls had COE-scores ≥ 25 msec. Erratically changing WSs introduced the COE in controls. Within groups the COE was not related to general response speed, age, duration of hospitalization, or medication. Results are interpreted as indicating that schizophrenics eschew controlled anticipatory processes on the basis of WS- and PI-information which are crucial for motor preparation when PIs are too long to allow an automatic perceptual grouping of warning and imperative stimulus. This may also occur in controls when time estimation is impeded by distraction.