BIOLOGICALLY BASED DEFICIT IN THE IDENTIFIED PATIENT: INDICATIONS FOR PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES

Abstract

The phrase “identified patient” has attracted a wide following among family therapists representing a variety of approaches to family therapy. It is based on the assumption that persons referred for psychotherapeutic treatment are often incorrectly labeled “patients” when, in fact, their symptoms are manifestations of family, not individual, dysfunction or pathology. It is the thesis of this article that when biologically based deficits in the identified patient are a salient determinant of interpersonal dysfunction, such reframing is inappropriate. Psycho‐educational strategies for treating families of persons with such physically based conditions as learning disability, attention deficit disorder, epilepsy, autism, and various medical illnesses and handicaps, are recommended.