Neuropsychological deficit and psychodynamic defence models of schizophrenia : towards an integrated psychotherapeutic model

Abstract

In recent psychiatric literature on schizophrenia the contribution of psycho- analytic ideas tends to be discounted on the basis of two claims: the first is that psychoanalytic treatments of schizophrenia have been shown to be ineffective and the second repeats Karl Popper's original critique that psycho- dynamic explanations are a priori unscientific because they are unfalsifiable (Bentall, 2006; McGorry, 2004). As Glen Gabbard notes, such statements follow the recent fashion in psychiatry which assumes that the success of the neurosciences renders psychodynamic contributions both redundant and outdated (Gabbard, 1994; Gabbard et aI., 2002). While it is disappointing to read statements which ignore important theoretical debates, such summary dismissal also indicates a missed opportunity to consider the experience of many therapists and patients who have found some benefit in a psycho- analytic approach (Cullberg and Johannessen, 2004; Gottdiener and Haslam, 2003)