Scorn, so frequently the predominant feeling expressed by schizophrenic patients at the beginning of psychotherapy, is a defense against positive feelings which are too dangerous to be expressed because of very early, unsuccessfully handled, disillusioning experiences. The author traces the role of adoration and disillusionment in early ego development. In the schizophrenic, disillusionment with the mother occurred too early and was too great to be integrated by the developing ego. In psychotherapy with schizophrenic patients, scorn, disillusionment, and adoration occur in this sequence in both patient and therapist. Successful treatment depends on the therapist's ability to work through his own experiences of disillusionment with his mother. The patient-therapist symbiosis, after it has reached the mutual adoration stage, becomes resolved by the patient's gradually developing autonomy, made possible by the therapist's availability to and acceptance of the patient.