milieu therapy

noun

1. a type of inpatient therapy, used in psychiatric hospitals, involving prescription of particular activities and social interactions according to a patient's emotional and interpersonal needs.

Word History and Origins

Origin of milieu therapy¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

He compared it to “an old concept in military medicine” that was first adopted in psychiatric clinics at Walter Reed Medical Center in 1971, during the Vietnam War, called “milieu therapy.”

From New York Times