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Dissociation and constructivism. Commentary on papers by Davies and Harris

  • 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 improving our ability to respond optimally to our patients. He describes how optimal responsiveness constitutes the guiding principle for therapeutic work, and how it may both constitute, and be different from, >being empathic.<

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Metadaten
Author:Howard A. Bacal
Parent Title (English):Psychoanalytic Dialogues Vol. 05 (1995), pp. 353-366.
Document Type:Articles
Language:English
Year of first Publication:1995
Release Date:2017/11/20
Format:xerox upon request / Fotokopie auf Anfrage
IdNo:Bacal_H_A_1995a
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Articles / Artikel
Licence (German):
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