In psychotherapy with schizophrenic patients the writer observed their intense anxiety concerning change and their feeling that change is something imposed from without rather than something from within which would benefit them and others. As part of the schizophrenic process there is a regression of the ego which then exhibits a fragmentation of experiences and a lack of continuity of perceptions, comparable to the modes of thought of primitive cultures and normal children. Inevitably this leads to severe disturbances in the schizophrenic's sense of identity which, at best, is tenuous and precarious. The anxiety connected with change in the early phase of the psychosis is due to the threat to the sense of identity caused by change. The author suggests certain techniques to assist such patients to build upon a fragile sense of identity and to overcome their anxiety concerning change.