Living in Imaginary Worlds. Attunement, Inquiry and Involvement in the Treatment of Psychosis

Abstract

Some people experience deep feelings while living alone in their imaginary worlds: they may feel persecuted, watched, controlled, devoid of their thoughts, pressed to experiment feelings; they may imagine new and grandiose identities, experiment their body transformed, etc. Usually, these experiences have been included under the concept of psychoses, and specifically allotted to Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Delusional Disorders or Psychotic Bipolar Disorders. These experiences have been usually understood as a symptom of an underlying brain illness. Anyway, these people experiment intersubjectivity as a big thread to the point to be afraid of losing their core self. Clinical experience shows us that an intersubjective approach with integrative relational methods is a big help. A relational therapy that takes into account phenomenological inquiry and that gets interested in the states of mind, offering the consistent and respectful presence of the therapist, attuned to the developmental fixations and rhythmic attuned to the needs of security, validation, acceptance, and self-definition of the patient, helps him or her to access to a new shared world and a new intersubjectivity.