Lecture: Institutional Dianetics (2) (1950)

An obsessive compulsive could be classified as psychotic. Trying to hypnotize such a person would be the first mistake. Mistake number two would be to try to assume any state with the man which was even suggestive of taking command or control of him. Never give a psychotic the idea that you are taking over control of him when it agitates him in any way. Make it out to some degree as though you are merely playing with him a little bit.

Sometimes you will find that he is accessible to your taking control of him. When that is possible it will demonstrate itself rather rapidly, and you can do so, and then you will achieve rather rapid results. But trying to place him in a state before you do something else, and trying to go through any orderly procedure, is of course throwing organization against chaos, and they just don’t mix. In consequence you have to catch an obsessive compulsive on the fly. There are certain things they are doing or saying, and you can attract their attention one way or the other and help them.

Just because the person is psychotic is no reason to believe that general human laws have been suspended, which is a sad and serious mistake on the part of anyone trying to treat a psychotic, because part of that person is reasonable. One might not be looking at any part that is reasonable, but part of the person is; and any of the things that will be effective upon a normal patient are equally useful in the treatment of psychotics.¹

Notes