The Envelope and the Psychiatrist: A Study of Patients' Envelopes
HARRY A. WILMER M.D., PH.D.1
1 Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California School of Medicine and the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, San Francisco, Calif. 94122
The envelope as an imprint of the personality and preconscious thinking of its sender, and as a mirror of the relationship between sender and receiver, is investigated. Its multiple parts (addressee's designation, return address, placement of address, use of background space, type of envelope, postmark, postage stamp) are examined individually. It is suggested that a patient's seriatim sample of envelopes reveals variations which correlate with cinical changes and is therefore a reliable projection device.
