ABSTRACT
This commentary provides an overview of two case examples of psychosis that Eigen elaborates in detail in his book. One is Daniel Paul Schreber (1842–1911), who Freud wrote about. The second is Rena, a patient of Eigen’s. Both were concerned with difficulties of embodied being alongside transcendent visions as well as conflicts around being one sex or another. Rena, who engaged in a contemporary psychotherapy with Eigen, was able to use her psychosis to constitute a fuller sense of self. For Schreber, a basic split between everyday life and his cosmic vision remained. Rena became able to make sense of her imagery metaphorically, but Schreber never ceased taking his images and visions literally. In both cases, having someone to rely on as a therapeutic container in the midst of confusion and agitation was essential. With psychotic processes, primordial cosmic experiences must be worked through with a therapist who is both grounded in reality and sensitive to transcendent visions—one who can not only provide realistic barriers but also question the patient’s delusions.
