Abstract. The article aims to provide a better understanding of the urban practices of
young people living with a diagnosis of psychosis while recovering. I show
the way practices are adjusted according to the temporal dynamics of
psychosis. I argue that the continuous variability of symptoms over the
recovery period implies alternately practices of withdrawal and reconquest of
the urban space. I first outline participants' reconquest of urban spaces,
which starts in well-known places and then extends to less familiar ones. In
doing so, I point out the diversity of urban spaces inhabited by participants
during the recovery process which includes institutional, private, as well as
public places. I then outline the various material, relational and sensory
resources available in these spaces. I show how participants use them
according to the temporal dynamics. I finally highlight the way participants
are gradually getting involved in the relationship with a large array of
resources as the intensity of symptoms is reducing. My analysis is based on a
three months ethnography in a therapeutic institution in Lausanne.