The guidelines

The argument of this book is that any relatively experienced psychoanalyst or psychoanalytical psychotherapist should be able to meet the needs of most people who are having a breakdown. However, preparing a person for psychoanalytical work under abnormal circumstances requires close attention to the details of that alteration. I have already mentioned the need to have a team in place to support the analyst in the clinical task. The analyst is, in effect, providing ‘hospital care’ in the patient’s ordinary environment, without the traumatic effect of hospitalization, and it is vital that, if necessary, the patient be given support to cope with the practical details of life as they become immersed in breakdown.