Changes in treatment of mentally ill patients in retem years, particularly a marked proportion of partial hospitalization and out-patient treatment, have implied a greater responsibility of the patients family. Its role during the treatment of schizophrenic psychosis is discussed both in theory and practice. The paper compares the data, obtained by collecting subjective declarations of patients evaluating the emotive atmosphere in the family, with the results of other studies using different methods (e.g. evaluated semi-strnctured interview with a member of the family referring to the number of relapses in a patient). By comparison a remarkable agreement of the results to obtained, which pointed out the importance of communication with the patient and verifies also the importance of the patients active partnership in the treatment.

        Key words: schizophrenic psychosis, patient and family, emotive atmosphere, psychoeducation.