Background: Close family members of persons with a severe mental illness can in many cases experience great burden and much distress. Moreover, research indicates that support from family members is an important factor in the recovery process. These two aspects raise the question; how can nursing care help to alleviate the family member’s experience of burden and support them in the recovery process? Subsequently, collaboration with the family seems to be of importance. Since several studies show that family members´ experience a lack of involvement and insufficient support from health care professionals, there is an interest to pursue this contradiction further. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe for a geographically non-restricted group of family members their experience of the psychiatric healthcare professionals´ approach, their feelings of alienation from the provision of professional care and the level of association between these variables. Method: In order to extend our knowledge of family member’s experiences, a self-report questionnaire, the Family Involvement and Alienation Questionnaire (FIAQ) was constructed and evaluated. Seventy family members from different parts of Sweden participated in the study by completing the FIAQ. Data were analyzed by non parametric statistical methods. Result: The result indicated that there was a certain degree of association between the participants´ experiences of the professionals` approach and their feelings of alienation. The result indicated that the participants experienced an approach of lack of confirmation and co-operation from the healthcare professionals and they partly felt powerlessness and social-isolation in the care provided.