Showing papers on "Self psychology published in 1995"

Freud and beyond: A history of modern psychoanalytic thought.

Abstract: * Sigmund Freud and the Classical Psychoanalytic Tradition * Ego Psychology * Harry Stack Sullivan and Interpersonal Psychoanalysis * Melanie Klein and Contemporary Kleinian Theory * The British Object Relations School: W.R.D. Fairbairn and D.W. Winnicott * Psychologies of Identity and Self: Erik Erikson and Heinz Kohut * Contemporary Freudian Revisionists: Otto Kernberg, Roy Shafer, Hans Loewald, and Jacques Lacan * Controversies In Theory * Controversies in Technique

Pathways to Defense of the Self: A Theory of Two Types of Paranoia

Abstract: Developments in cognitive therapies and theories for paranoid psychosis have constituted a significant breakthrough in our understanding of this disorder, offering a valid psychological alternative to biomedical approaches, which have been criticized on scientific, pragmatic, and ethical grounds. However, we have recently found evidence for two types of paranoia which, together with other conceptual and empirical work, show these cognitive theories to be insufficient. We propose an interpersonal theory of the self, which places the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of paranoia within a broader context of the person. In this article, we (a) survey cognitive theories and the alternative Interventions they imply; (b) describe new findings on two types of paranoia, which imply the need for significant theoretical adjustments; and (c) propose and describe a modified theory of paranoid threat and defense of the self, which, we argue, more adequately explains the phenomena.

Constructing the Self, Constructing America. A Cultural History of Psychotherapy

Abstract: PHILIP CUSHMAN: Constructing the Self, Constructing America. A Cultural History of Psychotherapy. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1995, 430 pp., $27.50. Philip Cushman, member of the core faculty of the California School of Professional Psychology, Alameda/Berkeley Campus, has alerted us for some years to the extent to which psychological theories and ensuing therapeutic practices reflect the socioeconomic, historical, and above all, political context of the era in which they arise. His massive new book Constructing the Self, Constructing America, is devoted to this important subject. The author draws a parallel between American socio-political history, mostly of the 19th and 20th century and its changing psychological theories and practices, which he views not only as reflecting, but also ultimately serving the needs of the political and economic power structure of each period. Cushman's particular interest is in the many different possible constructions of the self of each period. Indeed, a highlight of the book, and in some ways a partial review of its themes, is the Appendix: The Self in Western Society (pp. 357-87). Starting with antiquity Cushman uses historical literature to illustrate the many steps that have only recently led to " t he masterful bounded self of today" (p. 357), "a self that needs to be 'therapied'" (p. 1) and one "with...many subjective 'inner' feelings..." (p. 357). The whole book presents alternate sections of American socio-economic history and the corresponding psychic healing practices. The author demonstrates how Americans have constructed "the other," be they African-Americans, Native Americans or Communists to carry repudiated aspects of themselves. Cushman's purpose is to show the extent to which "most healing technologies in the United States have been subtly complicit in the sexims, racism, and economic injustice of their eras" (p.5). Psychotherapy, here, is not the scientifically based, value-neutral enterprise its practitioners claim it to be but instead, "a moral discourse with political consequences" (p. 281). In the course of the book we learn about the history of healing practices in the last two centuries, from the establishment, reform, and decline of asylums, (Chap. 4, Healing through Self-Domination) to Mesmerism (Chap. 5, Healing through Self-Liberation) to the history of the mental-hygiene movement, onward to "the Americanization of Psychoanalysis" (p. 117) and beyond. Cushman makes an interesting contrast between Melanie Klein who would pave the way for Object Relations and Self Psychology with the location of psychic conflict inside the self, and Harry Stack Sullivan who situated social interactions and psychological problems in "the space between people" (p. …

Countertransference as the Analyst's experience of the analysand: influence of listening perspectives

Abstract: In addressing the analyst's experience of the analysand, countertransference is an ever-expanding construct. In keeping with the totalist perspective, I propose that the analyst's experience of the patient, instead of the term countertransference, more fully captures the complexity of the analyst's involvement and correctly places it as a central guide for inquiry and interventions. Our moment-to-moment experience of the patient is shaped not only by the patient, but also by our listening perspective, be it a subject- or other-centered vantage point, our models, and our subjectivities. The analyst experientially can resonate with the patient's affect and experience from within the patient's vantage point-that is, the subject-centered listening perspective (self psychology's emphasis); the analyst can experience the patient from the vantage point of the other person in a relationship with the patient, called the other-centered listening perspective (frequently the emphasis in object relations and interpersonal approaches). I am proposing that the analyst's listening from within and without, oscillating in a background-foreground configuration, can illuminate more fully the patient's experience of self and of self in relation to others.

The Supervisory Encounter: A Guide for Teachers of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis

Abstract: Good supervision is crucial to the training of any therapist. Yet most who are asked to supervise receive little instruction in how best to proceed. What is missing is a theory and technique of supervision that can help them be effective teachers, no matter from what mental health discipline they come. The authors of this book, who have supervised in a variety of educational settings and have taught students from a wide range of mental health disciplines, now provide a theoretical and technical framework for understanding and deepening the supervisory process. They clearly describe phases of supervision (from the opening session to termination), its goals, and the nature and purpose of a number of supervisory interventions. They delineate modes of thinking that are essential to being a good therapist and discuss how best to foster them. They demonstrate how supervision can be intimate, personal, and honest without becoming a form of therapy. Through clinical vignettes, they show how to diagnose impediments to learning and describe strategies for overcoming them. While providing an interesting history of supervision and a portrait of Freud as supervisor, they focus mainly on how newer theories such as self psychology, intersubjectivity, and an interactive two-person psychology influence the practice of supervision.

An intersubjective view of self psychology

Abstract: This article locates self psychology within the context of the evolving paradigm for psychoanalysis that the author calls intersubjectivity theory. It is argued that Kohut contributed significantly to the new paradigm but stopped short of fully embracing it. Self psychology and intersubjectivity theory are compared and contrasted, and an intersubjective view is offered of the patient's transference, the analyst's transference, and the system created by their reciprocal interaction.

The problem of perversion, the view from self psychology

Abstract: In this book, Dr Goldberg interprets perverse sexual behaviour by drawing on concepts of psychoanalytic self psychology, a variant of psychoanalysis that originated with Dr Heinz Kohut and that concentrates on the self as a psychological structure.

Hypnosis, childhood trauma, and dissociative identity disorder: Toward an integrative theory

Abstract: It is contended that prevailing exogenous trauma theory provides in most cases neither a sufficient nor a necessary explanation for the current large number of diagnosed cases of dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality disorder) and related dissociative syndromes purported to have arisen as a response to severe early childhood physical and sexual abuse. Relevant aspects of instinctual drive theory, ego psychology, object relations theory, self psychology, social psychological theory, sociocultural influences, and experimental hypnosis findings are drawn on to demonstrate the importance of adopting a more integrative theoretical perspective in the diagnosis and treatment of severe dissociative syndromes. Further cooperative experimental and clinical research on the etiology, prevalence, and clinical manifestations of the group of dissociative disorders is strongly encouraged.

The essence of kohut's work and the progress of self psychology

Abstract: This essay identifies Kohut's major contribution as methodological: that psychoanalytic inquiry entails the sustained empathic immersion in the patient's psychological experience. Kohut's consistent employment of this method enabled him to discover that it was not instinctual drive derivatives but selfobject needs that were central to all psychological relationships. This discovery was the basis for the transformation of analysts’ approach to the “narcissistic”; aspects of a wide variety of disorders—a transformation whose theoretical and therapeutic importance rivals the revolutionary approach taken by Freud to the vicissitudes of psychosexuality and its disturbances. The author describes the major areas of progress in self psychology—much of which centers on the growing recognition that the health and vitality of the self depend on complex relational, or intersubjective, selfobject experiences. He indicates how this recognition is changing our perspectives on transference and countertransference and is ...

Dissociative processes and transference-countertransference paradigms in the psychoanalytically oriented treatment of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse

Abstract: Self psychology is maintaining continuity with Kohut's last work, >How Does Analysis Cure? figure-ground< dimensions of transference: a selfobject dimension and representational configurations. On the basis of empirical studies of infancy, the paper proposes that both self- and mutual regulation organize the treatment relationship. It illustrates the clinical applicability of the expansion of Kohut's contributions by discussing a case in which countertransference, aggression, and resistance could place an analyst in danger of contributing to a therapeutic stalemate were it not for the contributions of Kohut.

Working with anger in groups: a modern analytic approach.

Abstract: The development of Modern Psychoanalytic psychotherapy with schizophrenic and borderline patients is briefly traced, and the major themes of the treatment approach that derived from that early work are discussed with attention to their application in group therapy. These themes include the concepts of the narcissistic defense, narcissistic transference, joining or reinforcing defenses, emotional communication, and a shift away from the classical psychoanalytic emphasis on interpretation and insight to a strategy of helping the patient put all his or her thoughts and feelings into language in a constructive manner. These principles are discussed in connection with three kinds of problems involving anger in therapy groups: members' anger destructively turned against their own egos, anger expressed toward the leader within a negative transference, and anger destructively expressed toward others in the group. Lastly, consideration is given to the group leader's anger and its expression within the group. Some contrasts are made between the Modern Analytic approach and the classical Freudian position as well as Kohut's self psychology.

Self psychology and its contributions to psychoanalysis

Abstract: A schematic overview of the theory and practice of self psychology is presented with a particular focus on what the author believes to be the most important contributions to psychoanalysis. It is recognized that self psychology, as with all psychoanalytic approaches, is an evolving and non-unitary theory. Fundamental features of self psychology are: 1. the consistent use of the empathic mode of observation, that is, to listen and understand from within the vantage point of the patient; 2. the primary motivation which involves strivings to develop and maintain a positive cohesive sense of self; 3. that each person has unique pre-wired “givens” included in the concept of the nuclear self; 4. that each person has selfobject needs which refer to the use of the object for the development and regulation of a positive sense of self; 5. that selfobject needs include mirroring (acknowledgement and affirmation), idealizing (protection, safety, and admired qualities), and twinship (a feeling of essential li...

Self psychology: Today

Abstract: Self psychology is maintaining continuity with Kohut's last work, How Does Analysis Cure? and his vision of human nature, as well as exploring a multiplicity of new directions. This paper discusses the expansion of Kohut's contributions in terms of the “figure‐ground”; dimensions of transference: a selfobject dimension and representational configurations. On the basis of empirical studies of infancy, the paper proposes that both self‐ and mutual regulation organize the treatment relationship. It illustrates the clinical applicability of the expansion of Kohut's contributions by discussing a case in which countertransference, aggression, and resistance could place an analyst in danger of contributing to a therapeutic stalemate were it not for the contributions of Kohut.

Orphans of the 'Real': II. The future of object relations theory in the treatment of the psychoses and other primitive mental disorders.

Abstract: Objective relations theory is a broad, multifaceted concept that covers a number of differing paradigms. The author highlights the historical development of this concept. Originally developed by Freud and Abraham, it gradually became a shibboleth that identified both the Kleinian and the Independent schools in Great Britain and the object relations school within the American school of ego psychology. The two British schools differed between each other and from the American school. Among these schools of thought, two major paradigms have emerged: (1) the one-person psychoanalytic model, and (2) the two-person model. More recently, derivatives of the two-person model have emerged as the schools of relationism, self psychology, and intersubjectivity. In addition, the contributions of the Lacanian school have altered concepts about the fundamental nature of object relations. What is consequently at issue in terms of the psychoanalytic conception and treatment of psychoses and primitive mental disorders (with patients suffering from being "orphans of the 'Real'") is (1) the differing conceptions of what is meant by internal objects, part-objects, selfobjects, and object-representations, and (2) the differing conceptions of unconscious mental life.

The application of psychotherapeutic and self psychology principles to hostage negotiations.

Abstract: Self psychology provides valuable insights into the dynamics that underlie hostage situations and negotiations. Recognition of the similarities between negotiations and psychotherapy further clarifies the complex interactions that occur. The importance of empathy and the development of selfobject relationships will have a significant impact on the resolution of the incident. Recognition of selfobject transferences and the indicators of self fragmentation will help to guide the negotiator and mental health consultants in their conduct of the negotiations. The complex relationships that develop between hostage-taker, hostages, and negotiators can all be understood within the framework of self psychology, leading to the more effective management of these situations. Language: en

Dance therapy and self psychology

Abstract: In this paper I will introduce the basic concepts of dance therapy and show how dance therapy could be viewed self psychologically. A clinical example will be presented, discussed and critiqued utilizing self psychological concepts. A brief discussion will follow that appraises the potential of blending self psychology and dance therapy together. This is a speculative paper but it may provide a basis to further develop self psychology within dance therapy.

Some distinguishing features of Heinz Kohut's self psychology

Abstract: At this time in the evolution of the various psychoanalytic theories, we can make only some general comments regarding the direction that psychoanalytic self psychology may take in the future. We can, with greater certainty, however, predict the enduring importance of two of its basic concepts: 1) the significance of empathy as a mode of observation will endure; and 2) the developmental and clinical conception of the selfobject will remain central to self psychology for the foreseeable future. Selfobject experiences have been recognized as crucial in all aspects of mental life: in development, in the clinical situation, and in everyday life throughout the lifespan.

The treatment of narcissistic injury in dissociative identity disorder patients: the contributions of self psychology

Abstract: Narcissistic injury is a major component of the seq-uelae of child abuse. The disregard ofthe child's basic needs disturbs the development of self-esteem and the ability to function effectively. The field of self psychology describes the effects of narcissistic injury on children and presents therapeutic methods for use within the transference that address the consequent damage to the self. This paper will outline the theory and methodology of self-psvchology and discuss its application to the treatment of narcissistic injury in Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) patients. Peculiarities ofworking within the transference(s) with DID patients will be discussed.

Review essay : Narcissism and the Interpersonal Self

Abstract: Interpersonal approaches to the concept of a core self are explored in a review of Narcissism and the Interpersonal Self (John Fiscalini and Alan Grey, Editors). The role of the self as system and self as identity - both the interpersonal, adaptive self and the personal, core self - is used to understand the evolution of the Interpersonal School and its varied approaches to narcissism

Cult Membership as a Source of Self-Cohesion: Forensic Implications

Abstract: The study of cults and the types of individuals drawn to them has long been of interest to psychiatrists. Although many studies have been done on personality types and psychopathology in cult members, no consensus has emerged. Studies of psychopathology in cult members have viewed these individuals as having either no significant impairment, displaying elements of character pathology, or being severely impaired. The result is that no clear theoretical framework has been developed to explain cult membership. Psychoanalytic self psychology, as developed by Heinz Kohut, can provide such a framework. The cult may be understood as serving a number of functions for its members, all of which are designed to restore self-cohesion. Such a formulation implies a degree of self, or narcissistic, pathology in many cult members. This article reviews the literature on cults, offers a self psychology formulation to explain the function that cult membership serves for narcissistically vulnerable personalities, and describes forensic applications of these principles.

Psychotherapy with Women and Political Action

Abstract: This paper addresses the impact of politics on the clinical setting. Through the framework o Self Psychology, the political aftermath of the 1993 march on Washington is examined in clinical case vignettes. Homophobia's relationship to lesbian parentsing management of a stigmatized identity, "coming-out," and personality disorders is addressed. The vignettes hightlight how a ploitical event works as a catalyst to stimulate and/or heal clients' homophobia.

An Ego-Psychological Approach to the Rorschach

Abstract: Summary.-This presentation is an extension and amplification of the ego-psychological assessment of Rorschach data initiated in 1946 by Rapaport, Gill, and Schahr whose focus was on the quality of the perception of reality and the assessment of defence. A more contemporary view of ego psychology not only includes an expanded view of defence bur also of the nature of self- and object representations and the nature of object relations. An assessment of the synthesizing function of the ego was also discussed. The present purpose was to present a comprehensive assessment of Rorschach data From the point of view of contemporary ego psychology. Rapaport, Gdl, and Schafer (1946) were the first to write about the interpretation of the Rorschach from an ego-psychological point of view. Based on Rapaport's (1942, 1946) conception that tests like the Rorschach and the Wechsler reflect the ego's capacity for thinkmg, the work of Rapaport, et al. (1946) focused on the analysis of the realisticness and logicabty of thinlung as this was reflected in people's responses to the blots. Ego psychology, however, has evolved since 1946; in contrast to the unfortunate fragmentation which has occurred in the presentation of psychoanalytic theory [see the recording of the fragmentation which has occurred in psychoanalysis into (at least) four different 'psychologies' (drive psychology, ego psychology, object relations theory, and self psychology) by, for example, Pine (1990)], Freud had intended to develop a theory of personality wherein issues of drive, issues of rhe self, object representations, and object relations were all aspects of a holistic psychology formed, coordinated by and directed by the ego ["From the beginning analysis, as a therapeutic method, was concerned with the ego" (A. Freud, 1936, p. 4), and "The business of the analysis is to secure the best ~ossible psychological conditions for the functions of the ego; with that it has discharged its task" (Freud, 1937, p. 25011. Therefore, I submit a contemporary ego psychology encompasses the nature of self- and object representations (Hartmann, 1950), the nature of object relations (Jacobson, 1954; Kernberg, 1966), and with study of the borderhe personality (e.g., Kernberg, 1967), an expanded understanding of defence. And while, for example, Beck (19481, Holt (1956, 1960), Klopfer, hsworth, Klopfer, and Holt (1954), Klo~fer, Crumpton, and Grayson (1958), Korchin and Larson (1977), Lerner (1991), Levine and Spivack (1964), Meyer and Caruth (1965), Schafer (19541, and Weiner (1966) have

The will to be known: Toward a pastoral anthropology of the self

Abstract: Explores the concept of the will to be known as a metaphor for the self as process in relationship. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theological anthropology and Heinz Kohut's self psychology provide the background for a multilingual pastoral anthropology that transcends a narrow focus upon the self as an autonomous unit of meaning. The discussions attends to four dimensions of the will to be known and to dynamics of shame within the emergence and existence of the relational self.

The Problem of Perversion. The View from Self Psychology. New Haven (Yale University Press) 1995.

Abstract: In this book, Dr Goldberg interprets perverse sexual behaviour by drawing on concepts of psychoanalytic self psychology, a variant of psychoanalysis that originated with Dr Heinz Kohut and that concentrates on the self as a psychological structure.