Showing papers on "Self psychology published in 1983"

Reflections on Self Psychology

Abstract: This expansive dialogue on the merits of self psychology ends with one of Heinz Kohut's final essays, Selected Problems of Self Psychology, an estimation of his work that is at the same time a measured response to the criticism it has engendered.

Borderline conditions: A perspective from self psychology

Abstract: This article begins with a distinction between the extrospective and the introspective points of view as they apply to understanding borderline conditions. The literature is reviewd using this distinction to organize the contributions that have been made to date. Two definitions of borderline conditions are given. The introspective point of view is used to further define the experience of patients with that condition and the dynamics as understood through self psychology.

Psychoanalysis And Self Psychology: A Metapsychological Essay With A Clinical Illustration

Abstract: This paper is an attempt to evaluate critically some theoretical and clinical consequences of the psychoanalytic psychology of the self in its broad, supraordinate position. From this either-or position, advocated by Kohut and his followers, self psychology corrodes some of the most central explanatory concepts of psychoanalysis--conflict, transference, and resistance. In an extensive case illustration, I have tried to show the conceptual and technical impoverishment of the self-psychological views with respect to the concepts of organization in conflict, in defense, and in development, and with respect to the role of aggression and to the concepts of transference and resistance. These consequences of the supraordinate self-psychological viewpoint are related to its overt attack on metapsychology, which is linked to an epistemological fallacy as a consequence of the exclusive use of empathy and introspection with grave consequences for our explanatory power, i.e., a fundamental confusion between the realms of content and of function. This also implies an obstacle in the systematic study of self-deception and a threat to psychoanalysis defined as the study of human behavior considered from the viewpoint of conflict. Finally, an attempt is made to integrate the views of Kohut with those of Winnicott and of classical metapsychology.

The Blancks' and Kohut's views of narcissism: Comparative analysis

Abstract: The normal and pathological development of narcissism is reviewed from two different theoretical orientations. Presented are the ideas of Blanck and Blanck (ego psychology) and that of Kohut (self psychology). Included are clinical vignettes illustrative of the ego and self psychology approaches. A comparative analysis is drawn, highlighting the likenesses and differences with regard to theory and practice. Considered are the developmental stages and failures, as well as transference, resistance, and technique. The area of greatest contrast is noted in their theoretical formulations regarding the development of narcissism while the clinical approach to the treatment of narcissism is less striking