Identified patient意思

"Identified patient" is a term used in family therapy and systemic therapy to describe a person who becomes the focus of attention in a family or social system, often because of personal or psychological problems. The identified patient is the individual who is seen by others as the source of the family's or group's difficulties, and as a result, they may receive a disproportionate amount of attention and become the center of the family's or group's interactions.

In family therapy, the concept of the identified patient is used to understand how family dynamics and relationships can contribute to an individual's psychological distress. The therapist may work with the family to explore how the identified patient's problems are related to the family's functioning as a whole, and to help the family develop more healthy and constructive ways of relating to one another.

It is important to note that the identified patient is not necessarily the person who actually has the most serious problems in the family or group. Rather, they are the person who has been identified by others as the source of the family's or group's difficulties. The identified patient may or may not actually be contributing to the family's or group's problems, and may or may not be in need of treatment or support.