Sociotherapy

Sociotherapy is a social science and form of social work, and sociology that involves the study of groups of people, its constituent individuals and their behavior, using learned information in case and care management towards holistic life enrichment or improvement of social and life conditions.

The professional practitioner of the field, who may be called a sociotherapist or life enrichment therapist, sometimes called a clinical sociologist, is usually concurrently a member of another relevant profession: medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse, social worker, sociologist, criminologist, activity and recreational professionals, among others. Clinical sociotherapy usually targets groups of children, youths or elderly, employed in various settings such as treatment facilities or lifecare communities like nursing homes and are directly involved in case management and care planning.

Still in its infancy as a social science and profession, sociotherapy is ill-defined and thus takes many forms, according to the respective definitions created by the individual therapists, firms and institutions that employ sociotherapists and life enrichment therapists. The Society for the Furtherance of Sociotherapy defines sociotherapy as "the methodical management of the living environment of a group of clients, directed towards reaching the treatment targets of this group—and conceived as a means of achieving the treatment targets of the individual client—within a functional unit, usually in a clinical treatment setting." This definition is most accepted especially in lifecare communities such as nursing homes.

The Sociotherapy Association in the United States describes a sociotherapy that emphasizes the support of awareness, relationship, and the integration of life and the environment. Its main focus is the process of interpersonal relationships as a method of facilitating healthier living, rather than diagnosing intrapsychic psychopathology, and attempting to change it through coercion and analysis (psychology and psychotherapy). The Society for the Furtherance of Sociotherapy says: "Sociotherapy operates through a holistic vision of mankind. That is to say that the human being is seen as a somatic, psychic, social and spiritual unity, which is unique because of his own history of growth."

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