The quintessence of a therapeutic environment
Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities
ISSN: 0964-1866
Article publication date: 5 April 2013
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the necessary primary emotional development experiences for healthy personality formation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is a critical synthesis of psychoanalytic theory.
Findings
Five experiences are judged necessary for health “primary emotional development”: attachment, containment, communication, inclusion and agency. These can be deliberately recreated in therapeutic environments to form a structure for “secondary emotional development”.
Practical implications
The ways in which these qualities of a psychosocial environment can be produced are described.
Social implications
Failure to recognise the importance of these qualities of an environment can cause unhealthy, or frankly toxic, psychosocial environments in various settings.
Originality/value
This is the author's original work, and has relevance for all psychosocial environments.
Keywords
Citation
Haigh, R. (2013), "The quintessence of a therapeutic environment", Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 6-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/09641861311330464
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited