def METHOD_NAME(self):
    """
    Handles the connection to a PostgreSQL database instance.
    """
    if self.is_connected is True:
        return self.connection
    config = {
        'host': self.connection_args.get('host'),
        'port': self.connection_args.get('port'),
        'user': self.connection_args.get('user'),
        'password': self.connection_args.get('password'),
        'dbname': self.connection_args.get('database')
    }
    if self.connection_args.get('sslmode'):
        config['sslmode'] = self.connection_args.get('sslmode')
    if self.connection_args.get('schema'):
        config['options'] = f'-c search_path={self.connection_args.get("schema")},public'
    connection = psycopg.METHOD_NAME(**config, connect_timeout=10)
    self.is_connected = True
    self.connection = connection
    return self.connection