Short presentation

Lars Thorgard, M. D , (1947 - ). Consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist in the National Health Psychiatry in Herning, Denmark and private practice with psychoanalytic psychotherapy and supervision in Århus, Denmark.

Earlier I worked in private practice in Odense, Denmark, and 10 years as a consultant psychotherapist at the Psychiatric University Hospital in Århus, Denmark. I have close relations and co-work with psychiatric and psychotherapeutic centers in Norway, especially in Stavanger.

My work: Relationship-treatment

I am devoting my energy in psychiatry on working with the different treatments of the so called schizophrenia´s and the psychotic states. Especially with team-work and very often at the moment as a supervisor of what I call “relationship-treatment”. In my private practice I am working with psychotherapy and supervision.

Other main interests is training in psychotherapy and psychiatry, supervision, Balint-work, Milieu-therapy, Relationship-treatment, Forensic psychotherapy and psychiatry.

My work as an author: “Relationship-treatment in psychiatry”

As an author I have published all in Danish language, except a work in English language on Schizophrenia (Thorgaard, L. & Rosenbaum, B. Schizophrenia: pathogenesis and therapy) published in Johannessen, J.O., Martindale, B.V., Cullberg, J. (2006). Evolving Psychosis. Different Stages, Different Treatments. London & N.Y. Routledge. This chapter in English language is presenting my model for a dynamic classification of psychosis based on attempts at empathy. It is intented as a tool developed for individualised dimensional classification in order to map out just how each unique individual lives with and tries to master her disorder.

My latest publication is a 5 volume work “Relationship-treatment in psychiatry”. In volume 3 – The dynamic understanding of psychosis – this system is developed further. Volume I in written in co-work with Eivind Haga, Stavanger, Norway and has the subtitle: Good enough relationship-treatment and good enough milieu-treatment. Volume II is called: The preservation of empathy in psychiatric work. Volume III is on psychosis as mentioned and volume IV is called: Individual mastery and mastery in relations. In this volume my dimensional diagnostic system is developed for other syndromes in psychiatry. Volume V is a handy working-book which condense and collect the working-tools from the other 4 books. These books is published in Norway at Hertervig Publisher and distributed in Norway and Denmark by PsykOpp and PsykInfo. It is unfortunately not easy to get the books translated and published into English language. But a little hope must be kept alive.

The books on relationship-treatment in psychiatry - seen on the presentation page of this website - is in short about relations, empathy, problems common to all mankind, possibilities, mastery and hope.

LTH-5

My diagnostic system LTH-5 offers a meaningful aid in organisation and implementation of:

- An individually organised empathy-oriented treatment plan in co-operation with the patient and the relatives. As a thorough LTH-5 diagnosis ahs been made the treatment goals is becoming evident.

- Individual psycho-education

- Individual prevention of relapse

- Individualised relationship treatment based on empathy and with the aim to develop – amongst other – individualised mastering strategies with resultant improvement in management of problems, symptoms and illness.

- As an aid to map out dysfunctional thoughts and behaviour and thus remedial to planning and implementation of cognitive therapy and social (skills) training with the cognitive treatment framework (CBT).

- As an aid in making the relationship diagnosis

As an aid and pointer in dynamic psychotherapeutic work, and as an aid in expressing relevant issues and foci in the dynamic psychotherapy.

The language that develops and unfolds, reflecting on the thinking behind the LTH-5 system becomes meaningful both to patients, relatives and psychiatric workers. Patients comprehend and use the language. The language becomes corporal.

More information on LTH-5

For more information my paper “The person in/behind the diagnosis”, presented as a special lecture at the ISPS conference in Madrid may 2006, will soon be available on “Latest news” on this website. At he moment the Powerpoint-presentation is available there.

Thank you very much for your attention.