ABSTRACT
This chapter gives some picture of the development of the psychoanalytic treatment of psychotic patients in England, but concentrates mainly on Wilfred Bion's work and author's own on this subject. There are in fact quite a number of situations which create negative therapeutic reactions in psychotic patients. This is not surprising as the treatment and the research into the psychopathology of psychosis is a never ending source of making new connections and new discoveries. Both Bion and author were profoundly influenced by their personal analyses with Melanie Klein and particularly by her views which she presented to the British Psycho-Analytical Society. It is interesting that the significant work with psychotic patients does not usually occur in the area of the patient's conscious preoccupations, but is transmitted by non-verbal communication in the transference in very subtle ways. Wilfred Bion contributed both to the theory and treatment of schizophrenia from 1953.
