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Philippe Paumelle: an update Volume 79, issue 2, Février 2003

Author
ASM 13, Atelier thérapeutique, Hôpital de Jour, 25, rue Charles-Fourrier, 75013 Paris

In 1958, Philippe Paumelle set up the "Association for mental health and the fight against alcoholism, 13th arrondissement Paris", later to become "the 13th"; in doing so, he created the first "sector". We highlight certain recurrent principles of his productive lifework, namely: the absolute priority of therapy over assistance; care for all, not forgetting the mentally ill; the crucial role of therapeutic teams and collegiate structures and the importance of caregivers in decision-making within institutions; the need for a psychoanalysis equal to the problems of psychiatry. The essence of psychiatry for Philippe Paumelle is to be found in dialogue with the patient; this rules out rejection, thinly disguised by adaptative or therapeutic voluntarism, and normative attitudes in general. His unique, abundant lifework remains of burning relevance.