Essays discuss courage, leadership, the roles of the group and the individual, narcissism, psychological aspects of history, ethics, civilization, and culture.

This comprehensive, introductory text makes the concepts of self psychology accessible for students and clinicians. It begins with an overview of the development of Kohut's ideas, particularly those on narcissism and narcissistic development and explains the self object concept that is at the core of the self psychological vision of human experience. It also includes brief overviews, of the allied theoretical perspectives of intersubjectivity and motivational systems theory. Numerous clinical vignettes are furnished to illustrate theoretical concepts as well as one continuous case vignette that is woven throughout the book.

This collection of "comparisons and contrasts" explores Heinz Kohut's self psychology in relation to a wide-ranging group of modern thinkers, both inside and outside of analysis. Separate sections analyze self psychology alongside Freud and the first generation of psychoanalytic dissidents; British object relations theorists; and contemporary theorists like Kernberg, Mahler, Lacan, and Masterson.

One of the classic self psychology compilations, Kohut's Legacy, first published in 1984, contains influential papers that broadened the purview of self psychology in the aftermath of Kohut's death. Contributions include three essays by Michael Basch on the selfobject concept, "Notes Toward a Psychology of the Feminine Self" by Joan Lang, and "Shame and the Psychology of the Self" by Andrew Morrison.

Postmodern Self Psychology, the last volume of the Progress in Self Psychology series under the editorship of Arnold Goldberg, charts the path of self psychology into the postmodern era of psychoanalysis. It begins with Goldberg's thoughtful consideration of the several tributaries of self-psychological thought in the decades after Kohut and continues with Mark Gehrie's elaboration of "reflective realism" as a self-psychological way out of epistemological quagmires about the "essential reality" of the analytic endeavor. Clinical contributions offer contemporary perspectives on clinical themes that engaged Kohut in the 1970s: a study of the effect of "moments of meeting" on systems of pathological accomodation; a reappraisal of empathy as a "bi-directional negation"; and an assessment of the diverse clinical phenomena that justify a prolonged "understanding only" phase of treatment. The theory section of Volume 18 comparably charts the movement of self psychology toward a postmodern sensibility. Contributors reappraise intersubjectivity theory as a contextualist treatment approach consistent with dynamic systems theory; return to Kohut's concept of selfobject relationships, with special attention to the separate subjective and intersubjective components of selfobject experiences; and develop one of Kohut's early ideas into a theory of "forward edge" transferences that strengthen normal self-development. In all, Volume 18 is a richly insightful progress report on the current status of self psychology and a fitting capstone to Arnold Goldberg's distinguished tenure as editor of the Progress in Self Psychology series.

This book draws psychoanalysis out of unsubstantiated, hermeneutic speculation and into the science and philosophy of the Self. Mark Leffert offers a survey of where we as human beings come from, going back into prehistory and our development as individuals. Psychoanalysis and the Birth of the Self is written to provide psychoanalysts with interdisciplinary information drawn from fields that they may have had little access to. Leffert undertakes a novel integration of topics not frequently discussed together, resulting in a radical critique of the theorization of psychoanalysis. The book begins by setting the story with a short analysis of the history of psychoanalysis. A new science has been founded on the recognition of the impossibility of separating evolution from development; it is called Evo-Devo. Applied to the human condition, it integrates development with palaeoanthropology and forms the basis for exploring such topics as the neurophilosophy of consciousness, the birth of the Self, and its neurodevelopment. It includes epigenetics in the conversation. Leffert then takes a radical turn, integrating the biological Evo-Devo of the Self with the study of its Existence that is, Existentialism and Phenomenology. The integration of these two threads, Evo-Devo and Existentialism offers a powerful and unique tool for exploring the Self. The author offers an innovative way of understanding an individual that pulls together their biology, their development, and the way they choose to exist in the world. It steps outside of the traditional ways of clinically understanding an individual not by abandoning them but rather by powerfully supplementing them. Psychoanalysis and the Birth of the Self offers a novel, interdisciplinary braiding of disparate strands of knowledge that will be of interest to psychoanalysts as well as those in the disciplines of neuroscience, existentialism and phenomenology, and anthropology.

This collection of "comparisons and contrasts" explores Heinz Kohut's self psychology in relation to a wide-ranging group of modern thinkers, both inside and outside of analysis. Separate sections analyze self psychology alongside Freud and the first generation of psychoanalytic dissidents; British object relations theorists; and contemporary theorists like Kernberg, Mahler, Lacan, and Masterson.