ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the most common problems in the therapy of psychotic patients. One of the main difficulties is the tenacious obstinacy with which the psychotic state imposes itself and conquers the healthy part of the personality. The chapter aims to illustrate briefly some of the specific elements that the analyst must know how to grasp and propose to the patient in order to wean him from the seductive power of the delusional world. The problems encountered in the treatment of psychotic patients depend on many factors, one of which is certainly represented by the fact that it is impossible for the analyst to use the same therapy method as for the neurotic patient. A specific characteristic of psychosis is that once the pathological change has occurred, it reveals itself to be obstinately tenacious, as though the mutation that has occurred has wiped out the pre-existing structure—just like a volcanic lava flow.
