Psychotherapeutic implications of self disorders in schizophrenia

Abstract

The ways terms are defined have a significant impact on psychotherapeutic theory, research, and practice. This paper will provide the definitions of and conceptual distinctions among terms that have emerged from embodied and embedded approaches to the self and its disorders. First, it will offer the distinctions regarding conceptual definitions of disembodiment and hyperreflexivity to differentiate these from other psychopathological configurations and normal conditions. Second, it will present disturbances of the self that arise in the consensual processes of establishing intersubjectivity and manifest themselves in narratives. Third, the paper will present the principles of possible psychotherapeutic interventions for persons with schizophrenia. The conclusion states that both ontological (structural) as well as ontogenetic (autobiographical) aspects should be considered in the hermeneutic process of understanding patients. Content should be a significant element of this latter analysis.