Schizophrenia: A Contemporary Introduction

Schizophrenia: A Contemporary Introduction provides a vital overview of psychoanalytic work with patients dealing with schizophrenia, highlighting the many benefits of this approach and introducing key methods for mental health practitioners.

This concise introductory volume starts by offering a brief historical introduction to how psychoanalysts, from Freud onwards, have approached schizophrenia and the methods they have used to alleviate the distress it causes its sufferers. Gillian Steggles illustrates how the developing relationship between patient and analyst can positively impact the patient’s mental functioning, leading to an improvement in their overall health and the ability to regain independence and self-reliance. She introduces theoretical psychoanalytic approaches, such as the Psychodynamic Pentapointed Cognitive Construct (PPCC) model, as a means of offering guidance to analysts dealing with schizophrenic analysands.

This book will be of interest to practicing and trainee analysts, as well as those interested in the history of schizophrenia and its continued impact.

Gillian Steggles is an academic psychiatry researcher based in London. She has a degree in Medicine from University College Hospital, London, and a PhD in Psychoanalytic Studies from Essex University, and her work centres on a psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic approach to schizophrenia.