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.

Heinz Kohut's work represents an important departure from the Freudian tradition of psychoanalysis. A founder of the Self Psychology movement in America, he based his practice on the belief that narcissistic vulnerabilities play a significant part in the suffering that brings people for treatment. Written predominantly for a psychoanalytic audience Kohut's work is often difficult to interpret. Siegel uses examples from his own practice to show how Kohut's innovative theories can be applied to other forms of treatment.

Hailed as "a superb textbook aimed at introducing psychoanalytic self psychology to students of psychotherapy" (Robert D. Stolorow), Psychotherapy After Kohut is unique in its grasp of the theoretical, clinical, and historical grounds of the emergence of this new psychotherapy paradigm. Lee and Martin acknowledge self psychology's roots in Freud's pioneering clinical discoveries and go on to document its specific indebtedness to the work of Sandor Ferenczi and British object relations theory. Proceeding to readable, scholarly expositions of the principal concepts introduced by Heinz Kohut, the founder of self psychology, they skillfully explore the further blossoming of the paradigm in the decade following Kohut's death. In tracing the trajectory of self psychology after Kohut, Lee and Martin pay special attention to the impact of contemporary infancy research, intersubjectivity theory, and recent empirical and clinical findings about affect development and the meaning and treatment of trauma.

Now available in paper for the first time, this classic text is about how an analyst analyzes. Rooted in the theory of psychoanalytic self psychology as put forth by Heinz Kohut and his colleagues, Treating the Self focuses on the application of the self-psychological concept of the psyche to the actual conduct of psychoanalytic treatment. The result is not a "how-to" approach, but rather a volume that suggests a theory of treatment and offers guidelines for creative ways of thinking about therapy. Written by Ernest Wolf, a close collaborator of Heinz Kohut, this is a personal account of the process of self psychology presented by one of the foremost experts in the field.

This book will familiarize mental health professionals with Kohut's self-psychological approach to understanding human behavior, and demonstrate its implications for therapy in childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and in the elderly.

Object Relations and Self Psychology are two leading schools of psychological thought discussed in social work classrooms and applied by practitioners to a variety of social work populations. Yet both groups have lacked a basic manual for teaching and reference -- until now. For them, Dr. Eda G. Goldstein's book fills a void on two fronts: Part I provides a readable, systematic, and comprehensive review of object relations and self psychology, while Part II gives readers a friendly, step-by-step description and illustration of basic treatment techniques. For educators, this textbook offers a learned and accessible discussion of the major concepts and terminology, treatment principles, and the relationship of object relations and self psychology to classic Freudian theory. Practitioners find within these pages treatment guidelines for such varied problems as illness and disability, the loss of a significant other, and such special problems as substance abuse, child maltreatment, and couple and family disruptions. In a single volume, Dr. Goldstein has met the complex challenges of education and clinical practice.

The self psychology of Heinz Kohut has been an important force in contemporary psychoanalytic thought and its ramifications for therapy have been extensively explored. Now, Marshall Silverstein offers the first analysis of the application of self psychology to projective diagnostic assessment. Differentiating the self psychological approach from an ego psychological interpretation of classical drive theory, he clearly outlines the principal contributions of Kohut, including the concepts of selfobject functions, empathy, transmuting internalization, and compensatory structure. Providing numerous clinical examples, he shows how the major selfobject functions of mirroring, idealization, and twinship can be identified on projective tests. Silverstein then demonstrates how conventional assessment approaches to grandiosity, self-esteem, and idealization can be reconceptualized within the framework of self psychology, and he also contrasts ego psychological interpretations with self psychological interpretations. This book makes a strong case for the importance of the clinical identification of self states. It will help practitioners understand their patients' varied attempts to repair an injury to the self to restore self-esteem (compensatory structure) and the clinical consequences of self-disorders, including disintegration products such as narcissistic rage and affect states characterized by empty depression, chronic boredom, and lack of zest.