Chestnut Lodge and the Psychoanalytic Approach to Psychosis

Abstract

The study of psychosis has a long history in psychoanalysis, as does the debate over the suitability of psychoanalysis for treating schizophrenia. For decades, Chestnut Lodge was not only a hospital but also a clinical research and educational institution. A unique patient-staff ratio--about twenty analytic therapists for a hundred patients--made possible prolonged and intense clinical work with schizophrenic and other severely disturbed patients. Interstaff discussions were encouraged and facilitated. This quasi-academic approach to in-depth individual case studies led to clinical findings and theoretical formulations that had a significant impact on developments in psychoanalysis, both here and abroad. Many of these findings and theoretical formulations are relevant to current studies and treatments of psychotic and nonpsychotic patients.