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The relative neglect of the chronically ill psychiatric patient in community mental health planning emphasizes the need for new treatment methods and resources. This paper presents an eight-year experimental application of psychoanalytic principles in an outpatient clinic with a form of therapy (termed "adaptive psychotherapy") specifically designed for the treatment of the chronically ill psychiatric patient. The advantages of this clinic for the training of mental health professionals are also discussed.

The authors describe three adopted girls, aged 9 and 10, who falsely alleged that their adoptive mothers dressed them in rags, made them do all the chores, and favored their stepsiblings. Underlying these false accusations of abuse was a history that included 1) actual abuse of the child in a previous placement, 2) early loss of a mothering figure, and 3) emotional abuse in the adoptive home. Professional involved in child protection eed to recognize this syndrome because intensive family therpay and temporary placement of the child outside the home are required in all cases. The child's false accusation of abuse is a cry for help and should not be dismissed as a manipulative fabrication. Language: en