Day Treatment Programs are on the uprise in Germany. The Pfalzinstitut's Day Treatment Program in the south-western part of Germany was established in 2006 and provides multi-professional, non-residential psychiatric and psychotherapeutic treatment to mentally disturbed children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years. This program addresses patients with moderate to severe mental health disorders thereby offering access to patients who were referred to in-patients departments in earlier years. Work with adolescents will be outlined as most day treatment units in Germany focus on work with children aged 6 – 13 years. The treatment approach includes psychiatric and psychotherapeutic consultation (Individual and group), psycho-educational groups, pharmacotherapy, occupational and recreational therapy and school.

Data despription of a five years' clinical population. Variables include demographics, length of stay, diagnoses using multiaxial classification, problem severity and clinical outcome. The spetrum of diagnoses is compared to Pfalzinstitut's in-patient department data from the same period.

Non-residential day treatment can replace in-patient admission in a broad spectrum of psychiatric diagnoses in children and adolescents. The number of personal contact between parents and the therapeutic team is higher than in the in-patient variant of treatment. However, certain disorders such as psychosis, severe eating disorder, severe self injury and suicidal behaviour must be excluded from day treatment programs. Step-down treatment from former in-patient to day treatment is often less tolerated by adolescent patients.

Day treatment appears to be effective and equally efficient as in-patient treatment in a large spectrum of psychiatric diagnoses.