title: Psychiatric consultation in the management of patient ambivalence interfering with the doctor-patient relationship.
abstract: The author describes states of patient ambivalence as a regressive response to illness that may interfere with the patient-staff alliance. She provides three illustrations of such ambivalence and tells how they were handled by psychiatric consultation in an obstetrical hospital. She describes the characteristics of the difficulties caused by patient ambivalence in the doctor-patient relationship and makes a number of suggestions for the management of ambivalence by the psychiatric consultant.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002979:Climacteric; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006939:Hyperemesis Gravidarum / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009775:Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Hospital; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011247:Pregnancy; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012017:Referral and Consultation