Partial-hospital treatment of potentially violent patients, or who's afraid of Tatiana Tarasoff?

Partial hospitalization has taken on an increasingly important role in the treatment of violence-prone patients. In response to the 1976 Tarasoff decision in California and its progeny widening the scope in many jurisdictions of a therapist's duty to protect endangered third parties from the violent acts of such individuals, strategies relevant to the day hospital need to be formulated. Treaters can provide beneficial containment through the use of informed consent, the therapeutic contract, and reality-based work which involves the patient and significant others. Nevertheless, the partial-hospital team must not lose sight of the limits of such interventions and should consider inpatient care as a serious option.