The Hannover consultation liaison model: Some empirical findings

Starting from the definitions concerning the concepts ‘Liaison medicine’ and ‘Consultative Psychiatry’ we begin with remarks with regard to the Consultation Liaison-Situation in West Germany on the basis of the key-words ‘Brief history’, ‘Independent university units with regard to Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics as well as the connected organization’ and ‘Teaching procedures’. Following it the Hannover Consultation Liaison model is presented particularly with regard to both the psychosomatic inpatient ward including the functional organization and psychotherapeutic processes as well as the so-called ‘Innere Ambulanz’ which includes the consultation liaison services in the clinico-medical departments outside Psychiatry and Psychosomatics. Within the ‘Innere Ambulanz’, which is closely connected to our psychosomatic inpatient ward, the consultation liaison activities and the resulting supportive psychotherapeutic strategies are performed by student auxiliary therapists who are interested in completing their 4–5 months internship-time in our department. We describe both the three supportive psychotherapeutic steps, which may last months to years including subsequent dynamically psychotherapeutic strategies as well as the reactions of the auxiliary therapist function on the students. Furthermore, we may state that there exists no one more optional education procedure of graduate students than the student's confrontation with his partial self-responsibility vis-à-vis a patient who is being supportive-psychotherapeutically treated by him. Specific empirical proofs concerning our patient oriented consultation liaison activities are demonstrated on the basis of previous psychotherapeutic findings in Crohn patients. Here we are able to demonstrate the effectivity of psychotherapy in the case of the supplementarily psychotherapeutically treated patients in comparison to the patients who received medical therapy only. Finally we are able to present quantitative clinico-medical inpatient needs with regard to consultation liaison activities starting from our ‘Innere Ambulanz’. On the basis of our conservative estimate, 31–42% of patients showed severe psychosomatic or psychic symptoms who should be treated by psychological means in addition to the medical treatment.