Specific Challenges in the Treatment of Psychopathy: A Case Report

Although the literature is filled with articles pointing to the conclusion that psychopaths cannot be treated, very few articles detail actual attempts to treat. We present one therapist's effort to treat the case of a psychopathic outpatient. Treatment was complicated by the fact that the therapist was initially unaware of the patient being psychopathic. The therapist further lacked a theoretical framework to base his work on. Treatment ended with the psychopath being jailed. The lessons learned are shared in this article. Greater knowledge of the specific challenges clinicians face in the treatment of psychopathy may facilitate further work in this area.