Clarifying the nature of therapeutic community treatment. The Survey of Essential Elements Questionnaire (SEEQ).

This study reports on the extent to which Therapeutic Community (TC) agencies share a common set of beliefs about the essential elements of TC treatment. The Survey of Essential Elements Questionnaire (SEEQ), a TC theory-based instrument, was used in a field survey of 59 directors of agencies identified as TCs through their membership in Therapeutic Communities of America (TCA). Results showed a high degree of concordance in the perceived importance of a common set of treatment elements identified as essential to the TC modality. Two clusters of TC-oriented agencies, identified as Traditional and Modified, were determined based on beliefs in the importance of the elements. Results were seen as validating the TC formulation from which the SEEQ items were drawn. Implications on the potential use of the SEEQ as a means of codifying TC treatment for research, training, and quality assurance are discussed.