Below is an except from an interview with Dr. Daniel Dorman, author of Dante’s Cure: A Journey out of Madness. Dante’s Cure is about the psychotherapeutic work that Dr. Dorman undertook with a young patient suffering from catatonic schizophrenia. I am flagging this with readers as a resource for finding an experienced psychotherapist who doesn’t buy into schizophrenia as a biochemical imbalance. The website also provides an international listing of psychotherapists.
What can patients and family members do to help promote this kind of recovery? Where can they turn for help when they feel their treatment is failing, or could be better?
First of all, don’t buy the broken brain-chemical imbalance theory. If you or your loved one is caught in the vicious cycle of taking medications to control feelings, consider finding a therapist who will help you understand the origin of the problem. If a family member suffers from schizophrenia, you might obtain a referral from the U.S. branch of the International Society for the Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses