Psychotherapy techniques for patients diagnosed with schizophrenia

Abstract

The paper describes how standard psychotherapy techniques need to be modified to suit the specialized needs of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Patients with psychosis often have lost their ability to use words to describe their inner states. As a result, traditional forms of psychotherapy which depend so crucially on the use of language are compromised. The goal of treatment at the start is to help the patient recover his ability to use language to describe his inner life. Eventually, this enables the patient to make use of more traditional forms of psychodynamic treatment.