Occasionally, it seems, crossing the "professional"-versus-"peer" lines has worked better than refusing to cross them. R.D. Laing (1927-1989) was a Scottish psychiatrist best known for his innovative approach to psychosis:
Quote:
Perhaps one of the clearest examples of Laing's approach can be seen by an incident related in John Clay's book R.D. Laing: A Divided Self.
While still in Chicago, Laing was invited by some doctors to examine a young girl diagnosed as schizophrenic. The girl was locked into a padded cell in a special hospital, and sat there naked. She usually spent the whole day rocking to and fro. The doctors asked Laing for his opinion. What would he do about her? Unexpectedly, Laing stripped off naked himself and entered her cell. There he sat with her, rocking in time to her rhythm. After about twenty minutes she started speaking, something she had not done for several months. The doctors were amazed. 'Did it never occur to you to do that?' Laing commented to them later, with feigned innocence. (pp. 170-171)
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I've seen that story quoted in quite a few places. This one's from a site called
fUSION Anomaly.