Psychoanalytic Theory, Therapy and the Self

Harry Guntrip (1901-1975) was a psychologist known for his major contributions to object relations theory. He was a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a psychotherapist and lecturer at the Department of Psychiatry, Leeds University, and also a Congregationalist minister. He was described by John D. Sutherland as "one of the psychoanalytic immortals".

Part One, addressing itself to theoretical issues in psychoanalysis, traces the changes which have occurred in psychodynamic thought since Freud's early conjectures, reflecting the physicality mode of scientific thought in which he had been trained and typified by the theory of instincts have been largely modified or superseded by the contributions of object-relations theory. Part Two, based on a series of seminars devoted to the structure and treatment of the schizoid personality, puts the theoretical issues discussed in Part One into perspective of therapeutic practice.

• Foreword -- Preface -- Theory -- Seeing Freud in Perspective -- The Starting Point of Psychodynamic Inquiry -- The Turning Point: From Psychobiology to Object-Relations -- The Broadening Theoretical Reorientation -- The Crucial Issue: System-Ego or Person-Ego -- Therapy -- The Schizoid Problem -- Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy