An introduction to pre-therapy

Abstract

This article briefly introduces Garry Prouty’s pre-therapy with people diagnosed with psychoses. It includes a short discussion of the theory of pre-therapy and illustrates the practice of pre-therapy with examples of “contact reflections” and an excerpt of dialogue. It also points to the link between pre-therapy and psychoanalytic attachment theories. It is the author’s hope that readers will find useful inspiration for their own practice.

Keywords:

• pre-therapy
• contact reflections
• empathy
• tuning in
• being with
• attachment
• mentalizing