Depression or Isolated Attachment? Part 1 of a 5-Part Case Study of the Psychotherapy of the Schizoid Process

Résumé

This case study explores depression as a presenting symptom that reflects an isolated attachment pattern, a core feature in the personality of psychotherapy clients who rely on a schizoid process as a form of emotional stabilization. The psychotherapist’s various forms of countertransference—responsive, reactive, and identifying—were an essential part of uncovering the client’s use of a relational withdrawal and in offering a reparative relationship