Identified patient

An identified patient is someone in a family or group who is thought to have mental health problems while the family or group is in therapy. It means that the other members of the family or group have identified one person in the group who they think has the most mental health issues, and that person will be the main focus of the therapy. The goal of this kind of therapy is for the identified patient to get better and for everyone else in the family or group to learn how to better understand and support that person.