Main description:

Breaking through Schizophrenia builds on the ideas of Jacques Lacan who argued that schizophrenia is a deficient relationship to language, in particular the difficulty to master the metaphoric dimension of language, which children acquire by the Oedipal restructuring of the psyche. This book is thus a countercultural move to present a less damaging view and a more efficient treatment method for schizophrenic persons.

Through a collection of published and unpublished articles, Ver Eecke traces the path of Lacanian thought. He discusses the importance of language for the development of human beings and examines the effectiveness of talk therapy through case studies with schizophrenic persons.

Contents:

Foreword by Bertram P. Karon, PhD, ABPP

Introduction

Part I: Psycho-Social and Linguistic Complexity of Human Beings as a Basis to Understand Schizophrenia and Psychosis
Chapter 1: Towards a Philosophy of Psychosis
Chapter 2: The Subjective Experience of the Person with Schizophrenia
Chapter 3: Philosophical Questions about the Theory of Psychosis in the Early Lacan
Chapter 4: Paternal Metaphor and Ordinary Psychosis
Chapter 5: Theoretical and Therapeutic Implications of the Later Lacan's Complex Theory of Psychosis
Chapter 6: A Post-Lacanian View on Schizophrenia

Part II: Hegel and Lacan on Mental Illness
Chapter 7: Hegel as Lacan's Source for Necessity in Psychoanalytic Theory
Chapter 8: Hegel and Lacan on Paranoia and the Question of How to Avoid the Dangers Inherent in Ideas of Social Reform

Part III: Psychosis and Schizophrenia are Illnesses Marked by a Defective Relationships to Language
Chapter 9: Phenomenology, Linguistic Intentionality, Affectivity and Villemoes' New Therapy for Schizophrenics
Chapter 10: Self-referencing in the Language of the Severely Mentally Ill

Part IV: Lacan's Concept of "Paternal Metaphor" Applied to Schreber and Hoelderlin
Chapter 11: Reflections on the Concept of "Paternal Metaphor" at the Occasion of Lacan's and Schatzman's analyses of Schreber
Chapter 12: The Concept of "A-Father" or the Psychological Origin of Mental Breakdown in Schreber and Hoelderlin

Part V: Lacanian Reflections on Successful Talk Therapies with Persons Afflicted with Schizophrenia or Psychosis.
Chapter 13: A Lacanian Interpretation of Karon's Psychoanalytic Treatment of Persons Afflicted with Schizophrenia
Chapter 14: On Villemoes' Lacanian Inspired Treatment Method of Persons Afflicted with Schizophrenia
Chapter 15: On Prouty's Successful Treatment Method for Persons Afflicted with Schizophrenia

Conclusion