Integrative Milieu Model

The integrative milieu model is a model of intensive psychotherapy wherein a patient suffering from severe psychological distress, often labeled schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression, receives various forms of group and individual psychotherapy in an environment that promotes empathy, community, respect, and humanistic growth. The integrative milieu approach operates from the premise that psychological distress is not a medical disease but an expression of deep emotional pain. It was developed by the psychotherapist Kevin McCready as an evidence-based treatment approach to replace the contemporary practice of hospitalization and psychiatric day-treatment programs. An integrative milieu program is designed around the paradigm that suffering has important meaning [Page 563]and, therefore, the path out of suffering is not in symptom-reducing techniques alone but in the overall promotion ...