Sociotherapy, profession and professional code

• definition of Sociotherapie
• general methods of approach of Sociotherapy
• theoretical lines of approach in Sociotherapy
• arrangement of sociotherapeutic interventions
• task areas
• the sociotherapeutic quality of treatment
• professional code for sociotherapists
• literature and organizations

Definition of Sociotherapy

The Society for the Furtherance of Sociotherapy defines Sociotherapy as follows:

Sociotherapy is the methodical management of the living environment of a group of clients, directed towards reaching the treatment targets of this group - and conceived as a means of achieving the treatment targets of the individual client - within a functional unit, usually in a clinical treatment setting.

Methodical management uses the living environment in a meaningful and planned way. The daily living environment of the clients within the clinical system, is seen as an instrument for treatment. As the sociotherapists work in a team, this also means that all the interventions by the sociotherapists must be coordinated according to previously formulated overall treatment targets. The sociotherapists must be permanent attuned to an optimal balance between the interests of the group as a whole, the different subgroups within the community and the individual client.

Sociotherapy is provided by a team of workers who, working together in a system of changing eight-hour shifts, guide the clients to give form to their daily life. The daily and continually open method of exchanging information (communication and interaction) is the principal concern of the sociotherapist. The daily life, the daily interactions with each other, provide the sociotherapist with information about the potential and limitations of the clients and the sociotherapist adjusts his interventions according to this information.

Sociotherapy applies to each client and as such cannot be indicated separately for a client. The sociotherapeutic treatment plan therefore consists of both a general and an individually directed offer. The sociotherapeutic treatment plan is always arrived at in consultation with the client and is a component of the overall treatment plan. The treatment agreement is recorded in the Civil Law Book under the name 'Law of Medical Treatment Agreement'.

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