ABSTRACT
This chapter describes two investigations that aim to test the effectiveness of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy in a systematic, verifiable way, permitting replications that nevertheless preserve the complexity of the psychoanalytic process. Children with insulin-dependent diabetes require precisely regulated injections of insulin, timed in conjunction with their diet, in order to maintain the balance between carbohydrate intake and the insulin required to convert sugar into cell energy. A small group of such patients, often labelled brittle diabetics, have serious problems in controlling their blood sugar levels. Their lives are constantly disrupted by periods of hypoglycaemia and/or hyperglycaemia. The paediatrician was attached to two hospitals, one of which could offer psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy as well as intensively monitored medical care. The mental health clinicians, physicians, and nurses involved with this project met regularly to discuss the management of the children on the ward.
