Empathy in the Care of Individuals With Schizophrenia: A Vital Element of Treatment.

Although therapist empathy has long been recognized as one of the most important ingredients of successful psychotherapy, its role in the treatment of schizophrenia has been neglected, relative to the treatment of other psychiatric disorders. In this article, the authors aimed to explore historical and modern conceptions of the use of empathy in work with patients with schizophrenia, review the research on empathy as applied generally in psychotherapy and as it pertains to this population, and offer a case study demonstrating empathy's instrumental role in the management of schizophrenia. Empathic understanding of patients with schizophrenia has relevance across treatment settings: in psychotherapy, on inpatient psychiatric units, in the emergency department, and at home with family or caregivers. An empathic understanding of the psychological process occurring in schizophrenia is a vital component of effective treatment.

The Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia: A Review of the Evidence for Psychodynamic and Nonpsychodynamic Treatments.

Following the discovery of chlorpromazine's effectiveness as a treatment for schizophrenia in the 1950s, a gradual shift away from psychotherapeutic and toward biological methods of investigation has ensued. Nevertheless, psychological approaches to schizophrenia have a long history and continue to represent an important component of schizophrenia treatment. In the past 2 decades, there has been renewed interest in psychotherapy for schizophrenia among some clinicians and researchers. This article examines the current evidence for both psychodynamic and nonpsychodynamic (cognitive-behavioral, cognitive enhancement, and psychoeducational) therapies for schizophrenic illness. There is evidence to support the use of both types of therapies though these orientations generally differ in their views on the role of psychological factors in the etiology of schizophrenia. It is argued that a pluralistic or biopsychosocial model of schizophrenia is necessary to account for the complexity of the disease and to provide the most effective treatment.

Remembering Silvano Arieti 40 Years Later.

Silvano Arieti is known for his comprehensive psychodynamic and biological theory of schizophrenia and mental illness. His writings continue to inform modern psychiatric theory and psychotherapeutic approaches to schizophrenia.

A Brief History of Lithium Treatment in Psychiatry.

The history of lithium as a psychiatric medication is marked by its serendipitous discovery, its lengthy path to US Food and Drug Administration approval, and controversy surrounding its current status in bipolar disorder treatment. Without doubt, the discovery of lithium as a psychotropic agent forever changed the course of psychiatry. The drug's fascinating, and sometimes contentious, history is reviewed here.