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Although a large body of knowledge bridging the biological, psychological, and social realms has evolved from the treatment of schizophrenia, this knowledge remains only partially utilized in the mainstream of psychoanalysis. The fundamental ideas of Abraham, Federn, Melanie Klein, Sullivan, the object relation theorists, and others still remain on the periphery of psychoanalysis although are recognized as extremely valuable in the metapsychology and clinical theory of schizophrenia.
Recently, because of the interest in assimilating the newer concepts and formulations regarding psychic development, narcissism, and the internalization process, psychoanalysts who work with schizophrenic patients have been able to advance the integration of the knowledge of schizophrenia into the mainstream of psychoanalytic thought.
Ping-Nie Pao's Schizophrenic Disorders represents an attempt to integrate newer viewpoints with a psychoanalytic theory of schizophrenia which offers guidelines to the treatment of the schizophrenic patient. There can be no substitute for reading the book; we will here merely summarize those aspects that will enable the reader to follow the articles in this issue, all of which stem from the book.
For Pao, the most critical curative factor in any psychic therapeutic intervention is the therapist's ability to use his innate capacity to empathize with the patient, guided by a knowledge of the patient's conflicts, dynamics, and psychic functioning. Thus he emphasizes the importance of attachment, empathy, and the transference-countertransference interaction in all facets of the understanding and treatment of the schizophrenic. He particularly avoids using medication as a replacement for psychotherapy.
He views schizophrenia as the result of an interaction of nature and nurture leading to pathogenic experiences in the very early