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Background: In Germany 1.5-2.75 million children live in families affected by substance use disorders. Substance abuse can impact on family interactions in many ways. If a dependent parental drug use continues over a longer period of time, this can have pronounced psychological and social consequences for the (co)affected children. Nevertheless, family-focused treatment approaches are not yet widely used in the context of addiction treatment., Aim: This review article aims to provide an overview of the prevalence of parenthood among dependent drug users in Germany, the impact of dependent drug use on families and family-focused treatment approaches., Methods and Results: Recording parenthood is particularly difficult in the case of dependent drug users as they often do not openly discuss it with their therapists because of the fear of consequences from youth welfare services. In order to change this, a structured recording of parenthood by the treatment providers is required. This is the prerequisite for being able to offer family-focused treatment to those affected. In Germany, three evidence-based therapy programs are available for this purpose: SHIFT, SHIFT Plus and MAMADAM. Additionally, a number of programs developed in the Anglo-American region can also be used. In contrast, the evidence for web-based programs is much weaker., Discussion: In order to establish family-focused treatment approaches for drug-using parents across the board, long-term, secure funding is required. The necessary framework conditions must be created at a political level., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Background: Mindfulness training (MT) for parents of adolescents has been shown to improve mental health and stress-related outcomes in individuals and their families. Studies of MT among young people are mainly delivered in educational or clinical settings, and there is a need for controlled studies on both parent-directed and adolescent-directed approaches. It is unclear whether MT has preventive effects for substance use outcomes. The primary objective of this trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of family-based MT targeting both adolescents and their parents to prevent adolescent substance use and enhance neurobehavioral self-regulation skills that play a major role in addiction development and mental health., Methods/design: The trial design is a superiority, two-arm, randomized controlled trial in which families will participate either in the full curriculum of the evidence-based Strengthening Families Program 10-14 (SFP 10-14, German adaptation) or in a mindfulness-enhanced version of this program (SFP-Mind). Both seven-session interventions are highly structured and will each be delivered over a period of approximately 7 weeks. The experimental intervention SFP-Mind is a modified version of the SFP 10-14 in which some elements were eliminated or changed to enable the inclusion of additional parent-directed and adolescent-directed mindfulness components. The primary outcome is adolescent self-reported alcohol use based on an alcohol initiation index at 18-month follow-up. Dispositional mindfulness, impulsivity, and emotion regulation will be included as secondary outcomes and potential mechanisms of action. The study will recruit and randomize 216 adolescents, aged 10-14 years, and their parents who will be followed up for 18 months., Discussion: This trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of SFP-Mind for family-based prevention of substance use and promoting mental health in adolescence., Trial Registration: German Register of Clinical Studies, DRKS00015678. Registered on 25 February 2019.

Multifamilygroups as a Psychosocial and Contextoriented Intervention for Somatic Illness and Disability This paper provides a detailed description of a multi-family group (MFG) intervention designed for children with disabilities or chronical somatic disease and their families based on a systemic model. A mixed-methods study examines the perspectives of the participating family members regarding specific intervention components and the therapeutic process and its outcomes of this heterogeneous, closed MFG. Problem-centered interviews and questionnaires were used. Attendance of and satisfaction with the group were high. Specific intervention components such as the provided therapeutic environment and the mutual support that was facilitated by offering different opportunities for contact with families in similar situations are highlighted as particularly helpful. Increased feelings of parental togetherness and competence were reported. Results suggest that this MFG for families of children with chronic diseases or disabilities is highly feasible for these families.

This study examined paternal involvement in parenting, the association between parents' perception of mutual support, and the relation to their children's well-being before (t1) and after the transition to first grade (t2). Participants were first and second generation immigrant families from Turkey (n = 134). In addition, German families (n = 45) were included for the comparison of paternal involvement. The percentage of highly involved fathers was higher in the German sub-sample (54 %) than in the Turkish sub-sample (38 %), but we found no influence of parents' education, household income, employment status, or children's gender. First generation fathers were more likely to be highly involved than second generation fathers. Analyses of the longitudinal data revealed that mothers with highly involved fathers were more likely to report higher marital support. This pattern was less clear for fathers. Children with highly involved fathers reported significantly higher well-being at t1. For t2, a moderator analysis revealed a positive effect on children's well-being only for those fathers who were both highly involved and reported the highest fathering self-efficacy. Among other variables, we controlled for children's well-being at t1, their health status, fathers' work hours and mothers' marital satisfaction.

Objective: Studies investigating the frequency of psychoeducation in depression for patients and their family members in hospital settings and assessing how psychoeducation is offered are lacking., Methods: Two postal surveys were done five years apart addressing these questions to the heads of all psychiatric hospitals in Germany, Austria and Switzerland., Results: 67 % of the participating hospitals offered psychoeducation in depression. 60 % of the patients treated in the hospitals participated in psychoeducation groups, whereas only 13 % of the family members did. In the mean, a single psychoeducational session lasted for 61 minutes (SD = 14), took place 1.4-times per week (SD = 0.5) and there were 7.4 sessions (SD = 2.8). 56 % of the moderators of the psychoeducational groups used a published manual for conducting the groups., Conclusion: The frequency of offering psychoeducation in depression for patients is almost comparable to that in schizophrenia. However, there is still room for improvement, especially when it comes to family psychoeducation in depression where all efforts need to be done to increase the number of groups offered in order to inform more families and help them coping with depression., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Assistances in education are pedagogical and therapeutic benefits connected with it. For child guidance as an assistance in education therefore psychotherapeutic competence is constitutive. The article describes the professional and legal framework of a psychotherapy in child guidance. It specifies on the one hand the composition of the multi disciplinary team (including child and youth psychotherapists and psychological psychotherapists) and the additional therapeutic qualifications acquired by the skilled employees. On the other hand it traces the judicial border between a medical psychotherapy with its scientifically recognised psychotherapy procedures and methods and a psychotherapy in child guidance. The applicability of the new law on the rights of patients with its requirements on a contract governing medical treatment (standards of medical specialists, duty to provide information, information provided for self-determination as well as documentation) on child guidance is discussed as well. The author argues for the preservation of psychotherapeutic competence in child guidance as a benefit sui generis and sees precisely in its therapeutic competence its specific contribution to the advancement of the assistances in education.

Successor establishment in familiy business may lead to interpersonal and intrapsychological conflicts and is mostly a transition to retirement. This may have a negative impact on the senior's health. The "Sozialversicherung für Landwirtschaft, Forsten und Gartenbau (SVLFG)" reacts with an intervention of several days duration. Evaluation aim is measuring participants changes in specific activities and confidence on successor establishment and retirement indicating mental health stabilisation. The method comprises a panel of intervention group (I, n=61) and comparison group (V, n=28) randomly selected, structurally similar and parallelised to point of transfer. Retirement activities significantly rise in I (p=0.001, Cohen's d=0.48) and are steady in V (p=0.54) after one year. Level of confidence is equal in both groups and steady but strongly indicating response shift in I. Intervention activates targeted activities and improves confidence at least qualitatively in a field that has hardly been researched., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

This study examined the efficacy of family constellation seminars (FCSs) on individuals' experience in their personal social systems, especially the experience of belonging, autonomy, accord, and confidence. We conducted a single-blind, stratified and balanced, randomized controlled trial. Participants were 208 adults (M = 48 years, SD = 10, 79% women) who were randomly allocated either to the intervention group (3-day FCSs; 64 active participants, 40 observing participants) or to the wait-list group (64 active participants, 40 observing participants). Change was measured short-term (2-week and 4-month follow-up) using the Experience In Social Systems Questionnaire, personal domain (EXIS.pers). EXIS.pers is a new outcome measure being applied for the first time in evaluation research. In addition, we used interpersonal scales derived from established measures (Outcome Questionnaire, OQ-45; Tool for the Evaluation of the Psychotherapeutic Progress, FEP). The average person in the intervention group showed improved experience in personal social systems, as compared with approximately 73% of the wait-list group after 2 weeks (total score: Cohen's d = .61, p = .000) and 69% of the wait-list group after 4 months (total score: d = .53, p = .000). The results were confirmed in per-protocol analyses (n = 191) by the results of the EXIS.pers dimensions (Belonging, Autonomy, Accord, and Confidence) and the interpersonal scales derived from the OQ-45 and FEP. No adverse events were reported. This RCT provides first evidence that FCSs tend to positively influence participants' experience in their social systems., (© 2013 FPI, Inc.)

Networks of support for young families are established nationwide in Germany in the last years. It is shown that a coordinated approach--in the cooperation between health system and youth welfare system--is very important. The different programs to promote parental educational competencies or to foster parent-child-interaction should be integrated in these systems. This article presents the results of the evaluation of one specific regional network ("Netzwerk Frühe Hilfen im Ortenaukreis", Baden-Württemberg); the differential interventions were focused. Three different types of families could be identified empirically and it was possible to describe specific professional intervention strategies for these family-types.

Psychiatric treatment of children in preschool age (0-6 years) and their parents is an expanding field of research due to its high clinical significance. Specific family psychiatric treatment programs have been developed to meet the demands of this young age group, but are little known. A multiprofessional intermittent treatment approach sensitive to developmental and family context has been established in the Preschool Family Day Hospital for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers and their Families at Münster University Hospital, Germany. Group and individual therapeutic interventions for both children and parents, video-based parent-child-interaction therapy, psychiatric and psychotherapeutic treatments of parents and family therapeutic interventions integrating siblings are supporting and enhancing each other in an innovative and integrated family psychiatric program. First results of evaluation studies are reported that show that this treatment is effective.

Integrated centers which contain preventive services for families in the form of a family center as well as a child guidance are described in literature as an innovative approach to address burdened audiences. Empirical evidence for this assumption is sparse, however. The advantages and disadvantages of such a center will be explored from the perspective of the visitors of the family center, the clients of the counselling center and families who visit both parts of the institute. Each part oft the center turns out to get a positive review and the integration offers an additional benefit. The high number of people with migration background reveals that this community gets a special attention.

Eia Asen developed multi-family-therapy (MFT) in the context of pediatric psychiatric work with predominantly poor and marginalised families from very different cultural, religious, linguistic, and social traditions in inner-city London. This work began with families affected by globalisation, migration, segregation, criminality, and other adverse social and economic effects of Thatcherism. Asen replaced the expert-led diagnostics, patterns of illness and individual medical indication of the case-by-case based model of treatment with a systemic practice developed across decades together with a large multi-professional and multicultural team, which places the family, the social, economic, and educational contexts, as well as traditions and the every-day situations of children and their parents, at the centre of the support. MFT makes particular use of the mutual solidarity, willingness to help and competence of families in comparable situations. The article describes how the child-guidance service has transferred this concept of multi-family training to the outpatient (non-residential) educational support work of the Youth Welfare Department of Ludwigshafen, a medium-sized city with above average social risks. The successes of this pilot project across two-and-a-half years are encouraging and suggest the further development and expansion of this approach.

In the last fifteen years a lot of services were established to assist children and their mentally ill parents. To improve the preventive and therapeutic interventions in favour of these families, the cooperation between all the institutions involved has to be enhanced. Family counselling centers can play an important role as a link between the psychiatric care system and the youth welfare services. By transferring the psychiatric terminology to the families' everyday language, the counsellors help the parents and the children to share their experiences with the parental illness. To implement a consultation-hour in a psychiatric clinic is an example of how educational guidance can close the gap between the two systems and strengthen the cooperation.

Objective: This study explores whether potential risk factors for anorexia nervosa (AN) can be modified by a family-based Internet-facilitated intervention and examines the feasibility, acceptability, and short-term efficacy of the Parents Act Now programme in the USA and Germany., Method: Forty-six girls aged 11-17 were studied during a 12-month period and evaluated at screening, baseline, and post-intervention. Parents participated in the six-week intervention., Results: Twenty-four per cent of girls (n = 791) screened met the risk criteria for AN. Parents accessed the majority of the online sessions and rated the programme favourably. At post-assessment, 16 of 19 participants evidenced reduced risk status. Participants remained stable or increased in ideal body weight and reported decreased eating disorder attitudes and behaviours., Discussion: Results suggest that an easily disseminated, brief, online programme with minimal therapist support is feasible, accepted favourably by parents, and may be beneficial for prevention of exacerbation of AN pathology., (Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.)

Multi-family therapy, common group therapy with several families per one index patient, has been gaining popularity recently. This has occasioned an exploratory study of the status of implementation and common factors in all multi-family therapy programs in Germany. In a survey conducted across Germany, all providers of multi-family therapy interventions were requested to give a detailed description of their intervention. Quantitative data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, and verbal data were summarized categorically with qualitative content analysis. Of the 25 intervention programs examined 21 are directed at emotionally disturbed children and young people and their families; mainly with disturbances in social behavior. Over 4,000 families per year are treated in multi-family therapy, and five programs were systematically evaluated. MFT is characterized by systematically oriented group therapy methods. Those surveyed traced the effect of this form of intervention back to activating problems in the group, activating resources, changing perspective, learning models, experiencing self-efficacy, and the therapeutic relationship. Systematic studies of multi-family therapy in evaluations and in random controlled study designs are recommended.

Objectives: Behavioral multimodal therapeutic approaches have proven effective in the treatment of conduct disorders. Yet there are hardly any findings regarding the effectiveness of outpatient treatment approaches. This article introduces an intensive behavioral therapeutic program for the reduction of aggressive behaviors (VIA - Verhaltenstherapeutisches Intensivprogramm zur Reduktion von Aggression). VIA combines a intensive outpatient group program for children, aged 8 to 14 years, with accompanying parent training. This study investigates the effectiveness of the VIA approach in reducing aggressive and comorbid symptoms. Furthermore, it pursues the question of the differential therapy effectiveness., Methods: We evaluated the treatment program within the framework of a waitlist-group study design. Pre-post changes and predictors of treatment efficacy were assessed via multivariate analyses of variance and a linear regression model, respectively., Results: A group of 36 boys and their caregivers took part in the study. The between-groups comparison revealed a significantly greater reduction of oppositional behavior problems and co-morbid symptoms of ADHD in the intervention group (IG, n = 18) compared to the waitlist group (WG, n = 18). In addition, age and degree of dissocial-aggressive behavioral symptoms were identified as crucial predictors., Conclusions: This study shows that the VIA intensive therapeutic treatment program is effective in reducing aggressive behaviour and comorbid ADHD symptoms in patients with conduct disorder.

Background: Parents of chronically ill children face numerous burdens in daily life, which can impair their quality of life (QoL) significantly. Therefore in family-oriented rehabilitation, not only the children themselves, but also their parents receive interventions. These aim at stabilizing parents both mentally and physically to enable them to support their children in the best possible way. This study investigates the effects of an inpatient family-oriented rehabilitation program on the QoL of parents of chronically ill children., Patients: A consecutive sample of 231 mothers and 155 fathers of children suffering from cancer, cardiac diseases or cystic fibrosis participated in the study., Method: In a prospective longitudinal study, parental QoL was repeatedly assessed using the Ulm Quality of Life Inventory for Parents (ULQIE) at three different time points: admission to the rehabilitation clinic, discharge after four weeks of inpatient treatment, and at a six-month follow-up., Results: Parental QoL increased markedly during rehabilitation treatment (mothers eta (2)=.326, fathers eta (2)=.249). Moreover, six months after the intervention, parental quality of life was still markedly improved compared to baseline assessment (mothers eta (2)=.259, fathers eta (2)=.069). The child's diagnosis had no effect on the level and course of parental QoL., Conclusions: Taking part in family-oriented rehabilitation can improve the QoL of parents of children suffering from cancer, cardiac diseases or cystic fibrosis. Such programs could be expected to affect the way chronically ill children cope with their condition and this should be examined in future studies.

Multi-family Therapy (MFT) is an evidence-based method used in the treatment of psychological disorders, psychiatric symptoms and physical illness in children, adolescents and adults. It is widely used in Anglo-American countries. In Germany initial studies showed positive effects of MFT with adolescents with anorexia nervosa and children with learning disabilities. The Frankfurt multi-family Therapy model for families with children with developmental delays, chronic illness or disabilities has been in practice and constant development at the Frankfurt social pediatric center since 1994. A pilot study examined treated families assessment of the program's content, format, objectives and therapeutic effects. Results indicate a high level of acceptance of the involved families and positive effects on the intra-family and inter-family level. Furthermore, the Frankfurt MFT model could be shown to be an effective and appropriate mode of intervention, in particular for those families who have to cope with the special needs of their children throughout a lifetime.

A systematic differentiation of culture- in contrast to migration-related influence factors in diagnostic and therapeutic processes is introduced. "Culture-related" refers to characteristics caused by values, behavior norms and religious attitudes of the ethnic community a person belongs to. "Migration-specific" refers to consequences of moving one's residence from one country to another (e. g., absence of family, trouble with authorities concerning the legal status or ambivalence with respect to returning to the home country). Based on a theoretic background of these determinants, categories for a content analysis were defined and applied to the treatment records of n = 55 first generation immigrants treated in a psychiatric day clinic of an university hospital. The results suggest that migration biography should not only be considered as affecting vulnerability in the genesis of a mental illness, but rather be classified as a factor of at least as much relevance for therapeutic situations as the usually named cultural diversity: summarizing the results of the qualitative content analysis of the entire treatment courses more cases were influenced by migration specific aspects rather than culture specific aspects.

This article describes the practice of multi-family therapy in day care settings. Between six to eight families attend together for whole days and weeks and the principles and the methods of this approach are described and illustrated with examples of systemic work with children with severe behavioural and learning disorders, as well as with adolescents presenting with anorexia nervosa.

Objective: How does the interdisciplinary cooperation of psychiatric staff members change after a multiprofessional family systems training programme?, Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 49 staff members. Quantitative questionnaires were used to assess burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory, MBI) and team climate (Team-Klima-Inventar, TKI)., Results: The multiprofessional training intensifies interdisciplinary cooperation. It results in an increased appreciation of the nurses involved and in a redistribution of therapeutic tasks between nurses, psychologists and physicians. Staff burnout decreased during the research period, while task orientation and participative security within teams increased., Conclusions: The multiprofessional family systems training appears suitable to improve quality of patient care and interdisciplinary cooperation and to reduce staff burnout.

Objective: The present study examined whether psychoeducational groups for patients with schizophrenic disorders and for their families can reduce rehospitalization rates and improve compliance., Method: 236 inpatients who met DSM-III-R criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and who had regular contact with at least 1 relative or other key person were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment conditions. In the intervention condition, patients and their relatives were encouraged to attend psychoeducational groups over a period of 4 to 5 months. The patients' and relatives' psychoeducational programs were separate, and each consisted of 8 sessions. Patients in the other treatment condition received routine care. Outcomes were compared over 12-month and 24-month follow-up periods. The study was conducted from 1990 to 1994., Results: It was possible to significantly reduce the rehospitalization rate after 12 and 24 months in patients who attended psychoeducational groups compared with those receiving routine care (p < .05). Patients who attended psychoeducational groups showed better compliance than patients under routine care without psycho-education., Conclusions: The results suggest that a relatively brief intervention of 8 psychoeducational sessions with systematic family involvement in simultaneous groups can considerably improve the treatment of schizophrenia. Psychoeducation should be routinely offered to all patients with schizophrenia and their families.

The authors briefly describe the history of family mediation under the perspective of the role of the children in the process of mediation. They state that originally children were not directly included. But through empirical studies and different higher escalated families asking for help by mediation, the inclusion of children got an important issue in theory and practice. The discussion began with the question in which phases of the mediation process the children should be included - it went to the issue of the age of the children - and the authors propose to take the amount of escalation in the family as the most important point of reference to decide if and how the children should be included. They suggest to diagnose the loss of responsibility and autonomy of the parents on a nine level scale (from F. Glasl) with the parents and to decide and negotiate with them how the children will be included. They describe five different settings of inclusion of the children.

Family mediation has been established as a method of resolving family conflicts within the counselling system. Unfortunately there existed only rare information about the real presence and efficacy of family mediation services within this system. 726 counselling centres from all over the country participated at the present study, which was outlined to evaluate their supply of family mediation and the use of it. The results show that nearly one third of the centres are offering family mediation as a regular service to their clients, and that mediative skills are quite frequently used by the counselling professionals. Centres, which offer a regular service of mediation, have an obviously higher percentage of honorary staff, indicating that this service might have a more fragile status. Each centre, which conducted mediation, had an average mediation caseload of 32 in 2003, which means a percentage of 7 percent of all counselling cases treated in this year. These mediations needed an average treatment of 7 hours. Most frequent cases in mediation are separated married or separated non-married parents with 2 children. In most cases, family mediation was used to regulate conflicts in separation, divorce or post divorce, mainly concerned with issues of child custody. In contrast to the researchers' expectations, children were introduced at the mediation process only rarely. The need for mediation in the local population was rated much higher than the factual demand for and the factual supply of mediation. Based on the outcomes of the study, some recommendations are made: for the improvement of the supply of family mediation, for the expansion of the issues to which mediation is offered, and for strengthening the approaches to include children into the mediation process.

German psychiatry has been using parent-child treatment for only a few years-in contrast to Anglo American countries. Now, however, similar modalities are now on the rise in Germany, and it is time to list experiences and considerations of possible quality standards for such treatment units. To account for the necessary broadening of perspectives including the whole family system, the term "parent-child treatment" is used instead of the frequently used "mother-child treatment."

This is a report on the findings of the effectiveness of the "Viersener Modell", a inpatient systemic child psychiatry model. The therapy effects were recorded, by means of self and therapists assessment, in several relevant areas of change. The index clients (ic) show typical characteristics of a child psychiatry population. The ic (n = 43) and also their parents (37 mothers and 22 fathers) showed significant improvement on the level of psychiatric symptoms, individual problems and in general experience and behavior. The psychiatric symptoms that were conspicuous by both ic and parents at the beginning of therapy, were mainly inconspicuous at the end of the treatment (effectsize (es): icfemale, n = 28 = .82, icmale, n = 15 = .22, motherswithout partner(accompanying) = .20, motherswith partner(accompanying) = .44, fathers = .44). There was no essential improvement in the quality of the couples relationship, on the other hand the relationships were not clinically conspicuous at the beginning of therapy. Family members and therapists assessed quality of the treatment results and process mainly in accordance with our hypothesis. While the therapists noticed a significant improvement in the functioning of the family relationships (es = .87) at the end of the therapy, the parents (reported no difficulties in family functioning at the beginning of therapy) reported no essential improvement of family relationships in the follow-up questionnaire (n = 32). The improvement of the problems and the assessment of the quality of the treatment results remained stable over an eight month period.

An introduction to the concept and practical implementation of a project entitled "Care in families for young people with mental disorders" is presented. In a project five adolescents were placed in fostering families. Continuous care is provided by a professional family care team and the treatment as out-patients at the Department of Child und Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, in which they were previously treated, is continued.

Counselling the relatives of psychiatric patients is becoming increasingly important. This includes the relatives of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Since little is known about the organization and function of support groups for family caregivers of Alzheimer patients, in 1994 we wrote to all such groups known to us and asked them to fill in a questionnaire. The response rate was 85% (84/99), and 66 of the forms could be used for further analysis. The results were as follow: Most groups for relatives of Alzheimer patients admitted new members at any time. 69% had existed for more than 1 year and 19% for more than 5 years. 81% consisted of 6-15 participants. 73% of the groups met once in a month. Health professionals organized the groups in 65% of cases. The main topics were trading information about the disease and support as well as daily care requirements. 73% of the groups were associated with health institutions or nationwide support organizations. Public relations were managed by personal contacts and press reports; did the groups rarely advertise. Based on a review of the literature, the impact of structure upon the function of groups is discussed.

There is a consultation concept being presented within the scope of parental consultation at consultation offices which emphasizes the necessity of the synopsis of five different perspectives. Besides general developmental psychological understanding about the child's development and the accompanying capabilities of parents there is the subject of individual characteristics of children with which they are born, for instance brain-organic handicaps and differences in temperaments. Furthermore, the personality of the parents as result of their life history as well as the actual life situation and the life circumstances of the family with the resulting future perspectives are being included into the synopsis. Finally as the 5th perspective there are conceptions about the interaction processes between these different influencing factors to be added. Contributions of various authors with regard to the five perspectives are being examined and relations to the model of personality and development of the Integrative Therapy being made as well as conclusions for the parental consultation being drawn.

In spite of informations about a rapid change of behavioral patterns, immigrant children, youth and families have problems to keep their identity and being understood in the guest countries. Assistance of any kind and especially counseling in intrapsychic and social conflicts has to follow special topics. There are not only language barriers, the adviser has to take care of the ethnological background and the social-cultural conditions of the home country, he has to know about loyalty mechanisms to the family of origin, to manage closeness and distance in interactional relationship. Often he has also to help children and adult persons to experience self-confidence and self-conciousness in solving psychological problems instead of helplessness and waiting for magic and mystic help.