Building an Alliance between the Family and the Institution

populations.1 Conceptual models for accomplish ing this key objective are not, how ever, found in the literature. This article therefore offers a conceptual model based on the experience of Timberlawn Psychiatric Hospital, a 206-bed private institution that offers an intensive psychotherapeutically oriented program providing inter mediateto long-term treatment for inpatients. The model is concerned with the early phase of inpatient treatment and was developed to pro vide greater clarity on how the entire staff should respond to families dur ing this phase. The role of social workers, for example, is conceptual ized in relation to families of inpa tients; social workers are responsible for the range of family services need ed during the course of hospitaliza tion. The model is directed toward