ABSTRACT
The author presents a successful 11 year psychoanalytic therapy of a chronic schizophrenic woman, from start to finish. Sara’s therapy, based on psychoanalytic principles, was tumultuous and involved several substantial hospitalizations and psychotropic medication. Her analysis consisted of enactment of a struggle for sanity, and probably for life itself. It included a constant attempt by the patient to undermine the analyst’s trust in caring and in other people, and in his own sense of reality and sanity. A holding environment capable of containing her urge to act destructively and to flee and promoting thought and communication was very important for her treatment, particularly in the early years. Eventually she was able to relinquish medication, terminate therapy, and lead what a 20 year follow-up revealed was a life that was not only normal by any standards, but highly productive, including marriage, parenting, and a highly successful career.
