The implementation of contextual therapy in the therapeutic community for substance abusers: a case study.

Family therapy takes a special position in the therapeutic community for substance abusers (TC). In the early therapeutic communities, the family of origin was not considered as important for the substance abuser's recovery process, and was even labelled as part of the problem. It was only in the 1970s that the TC acknowledged the significance of family involvement in treatment. Nowadays, the contextual vision of Ivan-Boszormenyi-Nagy seems to have a strong impact on family counselling activities in Belgian TCs. In this article, the integration of contextual thinking in the TC is discussed. By means of a case study, it is shown that there are some clear parallels between the treatment evolutions in family counselling and the peer group community. The central position of trust both in contextual therapy and the TC treatment model is an important common ground for stimulating integration. Some obstacles that can disrupt this integration process are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]