There is no successful treatment for psychopathy. A range of psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological treatments for psychopathy have been evaluated. None have been found to be effective.

Indeed, some studies have indicated that therapy actually increases the risk of recidivism for incarcerated psychopaths. Investigators concluded that, although psychopaths appear to conform to the process of therapy, beneath the surface they are learning more effective ways of manipulating and deceiving others and thereby ‘gaming the system’.

Successful therapy requires of the client motivation to change, the capacity for insight, and the ability to form a collaborative relationship. Yet these capacities represent core deficits for the psychopath. To ask a psychopath to profit from therapy is like asking a totally blind person to participate in a visual training program, in which the pre-condition for progress in such a program is to have partial sight.