Healing madness and despair through meeting

An existential perspective on human suffering suggests that the psychoanaly tic view of the unconscious poses a difficult dilemma in regard to self-exa mination: On the one hand, not to pursue introspection may leave one as a p erson driven by untoward instinctual urges; on the other hand, to vigorousl y self-reflect, may result in inexorable despair in regard to the limitatio ns and finitude of mortal existence. The author contends that the reason fo r the dilemma is rooted in Western psychology-a perspective that regards th e human being as an encapsulated consciousness, set separately and competit ively apart from other objects in the cosmos. This orientation is shown to pose difficulties in treating madness and despair. By the use of clinical m aterial, the author shows how Martin Buber's notion of authentic dialogue c an be useful in efforts to bridge the separation between the sufferer and t he healer.