Search

In this paper I discuss John Riker's article, "A Critique of Stolorow's Erasure of Self Psychology and his Appropriation of Heigegger's Theory of Authenticity, plus the Possibility of an Intersubjective Self Psychology" a paper in which Riker sets out to evaluate Stolorow's intersubjectivity theory and its contribution to psychoanalysis. I attempt to add something to Riker's consideration of intersubjectivity especially as it relates to our shared mortality, a topic addressed by Stolorow in a lifetime of books and papers. I also comment on some of the similarities and differences between the ideas of Kohut and Stolorow, suggesting that to some extent these differences lie more in the distinctive languages coined by the two authors than in the ideas themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I discuss Magid, Fosshage and Shane's impressive overview of the contributions to Relational Self Psychology in the psychoanalytic literature, contributions they see as having emerged for the most part after Kohut's death and therefore as having been carried out almost entirely by Kohut's followers. But while the authors see Kohut's work as having hewed closely to a one-person psychology, I use my discussion to highlight what I see as the two-person themes in Kohut's own writings, suggesting that he may have been more relational in his thinking than initially meets the eye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two principal resources will be used to discuss Darren Haber's paper Simulated Selfhood, Authentic Dialogue: An Intersubjective Systems Look at Treating Addiction. They are Intersubjective Self Psychology: A Primer and Narcissus in Wonderland: The Self Psychology of Addiction and its Treatment. Both of these resources provide a different and more complete way of understanding this excellent case presentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning with Kohut's classic 1959 paper on the subject, empathy has been conceptualized as a process of finding something in one's self (introspection) that has resonance with one's experience of the other. This paper, inspired by advances in queer studies, philosophy, psychoanalysis, and the Black American theater, identifies the limitations of this understanding. By putting Kohut's ideas about empathy in dialogue with French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard, Black American playwrights Jeremy O. Harris, Michael R. Jackson, and James Ijames, and the author's own clinical experience, a queered empathy is theorized that relies less on self-reference and more on passibility. The theoretical and clinical implications of this shift are explored, and the possibilities for a queered Psychology of the Self that contain a heightened possibility for responsiveness to marginalized experience are suggested. The hope of this paper is that the reader, from a multidisciplinary perspective, will be inspired to imagine a psychoanalysis and Self Psychology for all that has the potential to flourish for generations to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue of the journal is a compilation of papers from the 41 SP st sp IAPSP Annual Conference entitled "Vienna-Kohut-Self Psychology: Searching for Creativity in Times of Crisis." Kottler and Ben co-create a unique, shared visual language in treatment, giving voice to Ben's less articulated and nascent self-states. As they work through their painful encounter, Kottler and Ben confront their largely hidden, alienated alter-ego self-states, "between different parts within a person and between people" (p. 74), which Togashi links to Buber's notion of I-Thou authentic dialogue. [Extracted from the article]

This paper shows the theoretical similarities between Harm Reduction Psychotherapy and Heinz Kohut's Self Psychology, and delineates how each of these clinical perspectives complement and enhance one another. Using these two theories in tandem provides further opportunities for clinicians to treat a larger proportion of the substance using population not yet ready for cessation or abstinence. A case involving crystal meth addiction is presented, and aspects of the treatment are explicated including identifying the self-regulatory and symbolic functionality of substance use, and working with the patient's own ambivalence about his behavior. A self- object "twinship" is also highlighted as having an important mutative impact on the treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents the treatment of a deeply traumatized, high conflict couple, massively overwhelmed by multiple stressors. Building upon the rich legacy of self psychology, this paper aims to illustrate how couple therapists can invite traumatized partners to move from despair and rage into hope and connection. This treatment approach is fundamentally based upon a systems perspective, but nested within that overarching stance are several foundational principles, including: 1) the concept of thirdness, or the view that surrendering one's own perspective for the sake of connection allows an additional perspective 2) empathic, subject-centered listening that includes emotional dwelling as advocated by self psychology; 3) conceptualizing the system as a whole, rather than only the individuals, as lacking adequate soothing; 4) recognizing the influence of cultural forces upon the couple; 5) working with each partner's self states or the idea that each individual has many parts within themselves and when invited into the treatment room can generate greater connection and healing; and 6) enlisting the partners as co-therapists. These basic tenets helped a mutually traumatized couple find their way out of fear. The paper illustrates how even in a barren landscape, where there is emotional dwelling, hope can germinate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing that psychoanalysis needs to change to meet the challenges described by the Holmes Report on American Psychoanalysis, the authors describe their journey to include socio-cultural perspectives in their teaching activities. To widen the lens of course content, they include topics of race, racial trauma, and inequality by bringing additional voices into their Self Psychology course materials including Beverly Stoute and Franz Fanon. Further, they discuss these authors' contributions in relation to Heinz Kohut's foundational ideas about development and clinical practice. They describe the features of an anti-racist pedagogical approach to teaching which supports encouraging and appreciating the contributions of all participants in the learning process. They provide several vignettes from their teaching experiences and argue that self psychologically-informed clinicians are particularly well-suited to meet the challenge of expanding psychoanalytic thinking to incorporate socio-cultural perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous paper on the application of contemporary self psychology to the treatment of couples dealing with infidelity, I decried the chances of repairing and rebuilding the original relationship if one of the partners was still involved with or in love with an extramarital partner. Yet no sooner was that paper published when a couple who met this description began treatment with me and successfully rebuilt their relationship, somewhat to the surprise of all of us, I think. After a brief review of relevant theoretical concepts, the present paper details the case and speculates on the critical clinical moments and important extra-analytic factors that contributed to its positive outcome – including luck, an influence on treatment outcome not often discussed in the literature. Inclusion of the extra-analytic factors highlights the importance of situating treatments in their overall context when presenting them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a therapeutic process between myself and Ben who, through his drawings and our co-creation of their meaning, came to articulate and transform deeply hidden and shameful aspects of himself. I look at the material through the lenses of The Psychology of Being Human, Kohut's early thoughts about "various selves fighting for ascendancy" and Togashi's idea of an "intersubjective taboo". The paper illustrates how the complex interplay between these concepts organizes an alter-ego experience. In so doing, the paper elaborates both Kohut's embryonic and little-developed idea of an alter-ego, and the framework of The Psychology of Being Human [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At that time, eating disorder patients weren't supposed to get better, so it was further reinforcement that Self Psychology offered something unique to patients. And that's important, because you know, analytic institutes still offer technique courses, which Kohut didn't approve of, because Kohut was much more concerned with the question, "What does the patient need from me in order to heal?" Many years ago, knowing nothing about Self Psychology, I attended my first Self Psychology conference at the behest of a friend. Let the patients teach you what they need: Richard Geist in conversation with Diana Lidofsky on his journey in Self Psychology - and getting from there to here. [Extracted from the article]

We express our deep appreciation to our three commentators, William Coburn, Jill Gardner, and Judy Teicholz, recognizing the value we gained by each of them reading our paper closely and respectfully, and responding accordingly. We begin with William Coburn, who saw our efforts as the latest move in the evolution of the complex system we call Self Psychology. We feel he appreciated our account of how Self Psychology has developed and changed both within Kohut's lifetime and since his death, moving from a one-person to a two-person psychology, in part in response to interaction with infant research, Intersubjectivity theory, and other relational theories. We then move to Jill Gardner, who raises questions about just how differently we view the nature of the self and transference and asks if there are predetermined aspects of each that are not relationally co-created in the analysis. Finally, we turn to Judy Teicholz, for whom Kohut has always been a relational Self Psychologist. We feel this is an ahistorical view that fails to enter into the classical one-person psychology milieu in which Kohut was trained and initially worked, and obscures the significant changes in Self Psychology that emerged both in his lifetime and through the efforts of subsequent theorists. All in all, we are grateful for the time and effort all three of our commentators devoted to what we wrote. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comments on Cushman’s “The Earthquake That Is the Hoffman Report on Torture,” placing the paper in the broader context of discussion of the ethics of psychologist involvement in national security interrogations and other military operations. In a preliminary discussion of the Hoffman Report, a few details that Cushman does not get quite right are pointed out. It then discusses the reasons for American Psychological Association leaders’ behavior in this episode and the mechanisms used to deflect attention from what was really happening. Broader issues regarding the appropriate ethical roles for psychologists in national security operations, or “operational psychology,” are then discussed. Along the way issues are raised regarding the appropriate Telos or goal of psychology as a profession and the distinction between science and scientism. While strongly defending science, Cushman’s call for a re-moralizing of psychology is endorsed. The paper ties it all together with a call for a Truth Commission to create a permanent record of the involvement of psychologists and health professionals with the national security state in the wake of 9/11 and to make sure that lessons are learned for future generations of psychologists and citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I want to contest claims made by Robert Stolorow that Kohut's notion of the self is a reified concept that seriously distorts our understanding of human experience, that his own theory of phenomenological contextualism is an adequate way to explore the psychological depths of human subjectivity, and that Heidegger's theory of authentic individuality can be adequately translated into his intersubjective contextualism. My aim is to salvage the notion of self and authentic individuality from collapsing into what I see as an overzealous contextualism, establish the importance of doing theory that explores psychological and metaphysical structures underlying experience, and show how self psychology and intersubjectivity theory might be fused into a comprehensive way to investigate the human psyche. It is the dialectical tension between being an independent center of initiative and perception and being thoroughly contextualized that is the truth of the self and I believe that this is Kohut's basic position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the evolution of a critical dimension of self psychology that has evolved since Heinz Kohut's death, one characterized by the transition from a one-person to a two-person psychology. This transition involved, initially, the change in the analyst's role as limited to interpreting the patient's intrapsychically generated selfobject experiences of development, rupture, and repair, to an emergence into full personhood; second, a new emphasis on the analyst's subjectivity participating in a bi-directional relationship of mutuality rather than a unidirectional provision of needed functions; and finally, an overall approach to the therapeutic process as a complex, dynamic system. This emergent paradigm within self psychology we term relational self psychology. We illustrate its evolution through a historical review of critical papers that extended and transformed Kohut's original vision, which already contained the seeds of a genuinely intersubjective and relational model. We outline these changes in four sections: (I) "Empathy and Beyond," detailing the concept's evolution within Kohut's writing and its subsequent elaboration; (II) "From Provision to Mutuality," describing the movement beyond Kohut's focus on understanding and explaining and the mutative force of optimal frustration; (III) "You've Come a Long Way, Baby," discussing infant research emphasizing face-to-face interaction and mutual regulation moving into the development of a truly bi-directional model of therapeutic action; and finally, (IV) "From Dyads to Systems," integrating self psychology into a broader intersubjective, relational, dynamic system and theoretical context. Each section concludes with a bibliography of seminal-related articles that may offer a syllabus for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both Roger Frie and Ilene Philipson introduce us to beloved and flawed forebears. They challenge us to mourn the confusion involved with our affection for these idealized figures, and to ask ourselves why we do not want to see them more clearly. Frie examines his own family and his own conscience, while Philipson approaches like an outside observer debunking self psychologists, as well as their attachment to an admittedly traumatized and limited progenitor. Thus, the tone of their two papers differs greatly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) swept across the country, graduate students faced challenges they could have never anticipated. The future of coursework, research, graduation, and practica was unclear; for some, the circumstances were more dire as university closures resulted in a lack of housing, food, and internet access. While there is extant research of clinical trainee experience, significantly less has been written on their experiences of major events, let alone how it impacts our clinical work or theory-making. Perhaps even more to our detriment, literature has continued to shy away from the most basic component of clinical work: love. What follows is my account of analytic love, loss, and healing during a turbulent time in my clinical training at a large metropolitan hospital. The goal of this article is not extravagant. By sharing these experiences, I hope to record these events, name my experience, and remind the analytic community of the power of love, and the necessity of discussing love, particularly its salience during times of immense distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This commentary aims at reflecting upon and contextualizing the emergence of relational self psychology and considers how it continues to transform our theoretical and clinical landscapes. It underscores, first, the phenomena of self organization and emergence (of new perspectives and sensibilities) witnessed in our field in general, given that the arena of psychoanalytic self psychology has always been a complex system in its own right. It then addresses the concept of the self, which is rendered increasingly ephemeral, fluid, dynamic, and non-entity-like. And finally, it explores the relationalizing of self psychology, including not only accepting the personhood of the analyst and the bidirectionality of the two analytic participants, but relying upon them as central to therapeutic action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of self-psychology in establishing a transformational humanity and even in saving the continued existence of our world—is a very modest one, yet, at the same time, a uniquely crucial opportunity. We, as a community committed to psychoanalytic self-psychology, are being required to respond to the summons of a serving leadership. The task ahead of us all is not less than that of creating a supra-contextual web of empathy that will embrace the personal and the general, the similar and the different, the multiplicity and the oneness. Only such an ethical matrix of universalism will constitute a total solidarity. Such an immeasurable task calls upon us to uplift the Kohutian legacy to its final destination, to the shores of selfobject psychology. This proposal aims at refining self-psychology into a psychology of transformation, defining the humane narcissistic journey from self-cherishing attitude to other-cherishing attitude, and, perhaps even beyond, to a stance of all-embracing ethical commitment to the realization of awakened awareness. Selfobject psychology thus opens up for psychoanalysis a spiritual horizon that will buttress the unceasing quest for the tremendous goal of withstanding our troubled times and of securing a future for humankind and its cosmic habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My comments add some points for reflection and open-ended questions rather than a structured and exhaustive discourse to Dr. Dobson's fascinating exploration of quite unknown aspects of Kohut's personal experience and thought. Recalling Kohut's essays on Courage and on Leadership I emphasize his open mind conception of simultaneous existence of different and even contradictory selves in the same person. I address the differences between the Odysseus of Homer, with his epic vision, and the Odysseus of Euripides, in his version of the satyr play. I also underscore that Kohut's early choice to focus on a satyr play can glimpse Kohut's curious mentality and openness to a non-linear and non-conformist way of thinking that brought so much vitality into self psychology and psychoanalysis. Kohut understood that, at certain historical moments, there may exist a dangerous narcissistic imbalance in large segments of a country's population. I connect this intuition with Arendt's reflections on totalitarianism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each of the main issues raised by the four commentators are addressed. First, Orange’s recognition of the vital importance of the hermeneutic concept of dialogue and its effect on political change is considered. Next, Botticelli’s skepticism about the connections between learning and decisive action, and between moral understandings and political activity is discussed. Soldz’ interpretation that APA leaders were self-delusional rather than conscious conspirators and his strong arguments for developing a disciplinary telos for psychology and a Truth Commission regarding psy practitioners’ involvement in security sector operations are examined. Finally, Hollander’s exploration of how state sponsored torture terrifies and silences the population of the country perpetrating the torture, thus causing the bystander phenomenon, is discussed. Dispersed throughout the Response is a continuation of my argument about the pressing need to reconstruct APA’s curricular requirements by adding philosophical, historical, and relational material in order to aid in re-moralizing psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hoffman Report’s findings about the collusion between some senior American Psychological Association (APA) leaders and the Department of Defense about the ethics of psychologists involved in interrogations involving torture were disturbing indeed. But upon reflection, the Report uncovered a problem more serious than just the secret actions of a few. The larger problem is that many members of APA’s Council of Representatives were unable to see through and combat the deceptions of a few leaders, even though some of their activist colleagues were able to do so and did so publicly. At the same time, many psy practitioners, both members and non-members of APA, were uninterested in the topic or ineffective in combating the leaders’ actions. Why were psychologists so ill-equipped in combatting the strategies of those leaders set on currying favor with the military and intelligence agencies that were involved in carrying out torture in interrogations? The increased scientizing of APA’s understandings of psychology, and thus its accreditation criteria, in combination with the growing societal trend toward neoliberalism, has excluded from graduate curricula fundamentally important subjects for psychology such as history, philosophy, and relational theory. Over the past decades, a vicious cycle of interlocking accreditation procedures for instruction and training was instituted, resulting in graduate education practices that ill-prepared graduates for comprehending the difficult ethical issues that inhere in psychological practice, and in making the right ethical choices. By supplementing scientific psychology courses with the aforementioned humanities-oriented subjects, graduate students could become intellectually sophisticated about and committed to a viable ethics; in this way the psy disciplines could be re-moralized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article treats sexualization in the work of Heinz Kohut and argues that his ideas remain relevant. We identify the psychological sequence that leads to sexualization; emphasize the fluid relationship between sexuality and sexualization; offer insight into the underlying role that shame plays in sexualization; and note the role of trauma in the early experience in those drawn to sexualized experiences, especially in forms of mirroring. In sexualization, there is often an objectification of the other and a detachment of empathy. It is necessary to define sexualization by an empathic understanding of the individual’s experience of the sexualized activity, rather than by the activity itself. We note the treatment implications of our formulations. Data for this article come from clinical discussions held by the authors who have met as a study group in self psychology since 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article will be to review some self psychological concepts and describe their commonalities and differences with system theories that have emerged under the umbrella of a dynamic systems framework. There are several important elements of self psychological language and theory that cohere with a systems vantage point. There are also elements that are not consistent with a dynamic systems perspective, such as the nuclear self. The concept of the nuclear self has the potential to galvanize psychoanalysts to look for the buried essence of structural properties and a preprogrammed design. It is our view that the language and underlying theory of psychoanalysis should be consistent with the fluidity, variability, and soft assembled nature of a systems viewpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There comes a point for some patients in psychoanalytic therapy when they experience the treatment as a threat. Often this occurs early on when the vulnerability so necessary to the process feels dangerous to them. Rather than risk a relationship with the analyst, they demur, disengage, and assume a “resistant” stance. The analyst may be disoriented, frustrated, and perhaps even despairing. A protracted impasse may result. This article explores this form of cotransference that is characterized by the interaction of the patient’s and the analyst’s fears of failure and longings for success. With the aid of a dramatic case illustration, the authors show how these reciprocally interacting needs and dreads contribute to the development of treatment impasses as well as opportunities for effective interpretation and therapeutic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]