The Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia: An NIMH Program

The authors discuss a current NIMH program whose purpose is to study the empirical knowledge of senior psychotherapists who treat schizophrenic patients and to translate this knowledge into potential research data. Such data, it is hoped, may add a new dimension to the treatment of the schizophrenic patient, which currently emphasizes the use of drugs. Thus far, the five groups of therapists who comprise the program have agreed upon a working definition of schizophrenia, the qualities of patients and therapists who do well in therapy, and the task of the initial treatment phase.