Psychoanalytic Treatment of Characterological and Schizophrenic Disorders.

Abstract

For the reader who wishes to be oriented in the difficult field of analytic treatment of schizophrenia and severe character disorders this book will serve admirably. Moreover it will arouse his enthusiasm by virtue of the authors' optimistic portrayal of their work and its results, with an additional benefit lying in its clear style. As the preface makes clear, the book originated in a panel discussion at the West Coast Psychoanalytic Society in 1964, from which material was selected and elaborated for the present volume. Because three authors are involved there results a considerable overlapping of material in the several contributions, a feature which is not entirely bad, however, since the differences in discussion may add to understanding. In an introductory chapter, Boyer reviews briefly what is known about the occurrence of schizophrenia in various cultures, the diagnostic problems involved, and the main theories