In the forests of the night: Psychodynamic treatment of schizophrenia through the lens of Matte-Blanco’s bi-logic.


The title of this article takes its inspiration from Blake’s “The Tyger” and the notion of “fearful symmetry” as a way to conceptualize the inner world and experience of psychosis. Ignacio Matte-Blanco’s work with bi-logic and symmetrical experience can provide an invaluable matrix for beginning to understand the language and symbols of psychotic thought process while working collaboratively with those who are often regarded as untreatable. In seeing psychosis as a symmetrical fusion of time, space, and identity, the authors have been able to step into “the forest of the night” and create a point of highly personal therapeutic contact through language, art, and ritual. The authors will provide case material to highlight this therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)