ABSTRACT
In this chapter I consider some of the internal and external factors that inhibit and restrict the development of a thinking mind that is able to apprehend internal and external reality. I focus primarily on intellectual restrictions, which seem to arise not as a direct result of organic damage, but due to emotional deficits. The impetus to explore this area came from the clinically painful experience of the disturbance caused to some learning-disabled patients by the process of individual psychotherapy and the potential of close contact with someone wishing to understand them. What became apparent to me in the clinical setting was that the experience of being understood, and through that gaining some understanding themselves, proved too much for some patients.
