The Humanity of the Psychotic Patient and the Human Approach by the Therapist: A Relational and Intersubjective Meeting

Abstract

Atwood describes a relational, humanistic, existential, and psychodynamic approach to treating seriously mentally ill clients and calls for a restoration of psychology as a human science.  In our response, we echo Atwood’s values and explore the phenomena of serious mental illness from the point of view of the patient’s subjectivity and lived experience, contrasting it with reductionist and efficiency-oriented models of mental illness and treatment.  In our commentary, we extend his thoughts on treatment of psychotic patients through the lens of contemporary relational and intersubjective theories. We also discuss the place of this work in the current context.