I've had personal experience with the "crisis stabilization" mode of working with patients, so maybe I can clarify what Amandalouise is talking about. What she is working with really isn't "therapy" the way we see it. When admitted to the crisis stabilization unit in the hospital for instance, you are there for a very short time and the INTENT for the social workers working with you is to help you find a long-term therapist and pdoc if that is what you need. They really aren't there to do "therapy". They are kind of the go between guys I guess. They give you some support and work on very short-term goals while further arrangements for your future and care are made outside that environment (i.e. hospital or clinic). Where she works appears to be free-standing, not inpatient, but the work sounds about the same.

Patients in crisis situations are not always very willing to move forward into therapy. In fact, they are often very much in denial that there really is a problem, even when they've been beaten, they're withdrawing from drugs, they've been raped, etc., there is a huge amount of denial that can be going on. While the social workers try to get people to accept the help they need, as we all know, unless they are ready for it, it isn't going to happen. And even when arrangements are made, there's no guarantee that the patients will follow up.

All a crisis stabilization team can do then is to try to get through the initial crisis and the patients have to move on. This is not a long-term therapy situation at all. Is it a perfect system, absolutely not. Will these patients end up back in the system again, likely so if they didn't accept the long-term help that was offered to them.

Amandalouise, what you are talking about isn't "therapy" in the long-term sense that we are dealing with here in this forum, thus the confusion. It might be best to just let it go rather than to try to continue to explain what you do. It is really like comparing apples to elephants.