Developing a Psychoanalytic Typology of Psychotic Disorders The mixed methods study "Therapy and Psychodynamics of Patients with Psychotic Symptoms" (T3PS study)

In this article, we propose a psychoanalytic contribution to the field of psychosis research which is also closely connected to extra-psychoanalytic psychotherapy research. The se-quential explanatory mixed methods study "Therapy and Psychodynamics of Patients with Psychotic Symptoms" (T3PS Study) intends to use psychometric as well as hermeneutic methods to develop and clinically validate a psychoanalytic typology of psychotic illnesses. The study aims to include N = 100 inpatients with psychotic disorders. For the develop-ment of the typology, we shall conduct psychodynamic, psychopathological, and further diagnostic interviews with the patients. Additionally, we use patient questionnaires and re-lationship anecdote paradigm interviews with members of staff. Starting from statistical modelling and subsequently moving to qualitative analyses, we plan to identify prototypes of patients with psychotic experiences. These types are meant to be developed along the psychoanalytic concepts of conflict, structural integration, and interpersonal dynamics as they are captured in the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis (OPD) system. The clinical validity of the final typology shall then be examined through several systematic single case studies following the Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design (HSCED).