AUTOMATISM VERSUS AUTHENTICITY IN A SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENT'S PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY

Abstract: Authenticity may be difficult to assess in schizophrenia. The evolution in the psychoanalytic psychotherapy of a patient, J., under care at a day centre, shows a form of changing that would allow authenticity. From the beginning, J. speaks of two themes, repeated at each session: the seismic situation of the world, and the “vision” he claimed to have experienced it in the past, a cinematic hallucinatory occurrence. J. gives the impression of being dominated by mental automatism. Some events mark his institutional care, both outside the psychotherapy, but also within. After four years, two moments of authenticity are to be noted: the first is a declaration of transference, the second having to do with a more commonplace aspect. Both moments show emotional overload, but leave no doubt about the patient’s personal involvement.