Practical interview strategies for building an alliance with the families of patients who have severe mental illness.

Family members play an integral role in the lives of most persons who have serious mental illness, and the importance of family involvement in the treatment of persons who have serious mental illness is widely recognized. This article provides a practical interviewing guide for mental health professionals who work with patients who have serious mental illness and their families. The article begins by considering the role of the family in the inpatient phase of treatment and then moves to a discussion of working with families while the consumer is in outpatient care.