Amanda Kottler - Böcker

It has been 35 years since the publication of Heinz Kohut's monumental book, The Analysis of the Self, in 1971, and in this period self psychology has undergone a vibrant and exciting evolution that has significantly influenced and expanded the range of psychoanalytic thinking. While undergoing this change, self psychology has kept the developmental importance of self-object relatedness and the primacy of subjective experience as central tenets of the theory. But where other theories of mind can tend to stagnate and resist innovations that transcend their founding figure, Kohut's self psychology continues to grow in depth, complexity and richness. Indeed one of the great strengths of the self psychology movement has been the openness of the succeeding generations to push the theoretical envelope—to entertain, examine and integrate new understandings and perspectives. New Developments in Self Psychology Practice gives voice to many of these developments, reflected in its four sections. The first section examines complexity theory, attachment theory and the work of the Boston Change Study Group. The second section is concerned with the treatment of children, while the third section examines various treatment modalities such as family therapy, group therapy, and supervisory process. The final section looks at diversity, difference, and otherness within both the therapeutic dyad and therapeutic community and considers how shame, enactments and traumatic experiences influence the therapeutic process.

It has been 35 years since the publication of Heinz Kohut's monumental book, The Analysis of the Self, in 1971, and in this period self psychology has undergone a vibrant and exciting evolution that has significantly influenced and expanded the range of psychoanalytic thinking. While undergoing this change, self psychology has kept the developmental importance of self-object relatedness and the primacy of subjective experience as central tenets of the theory. But where other theories of mind can tend to stagnate and resist innovations that transcend their founding figure, Kohut's self psychology continues to grow in depth, complexity and richness. Indeed one of the great strengths of the self psychology movement has been the openness of the succeeding generations to push the theoretical envelope—to entertain, examine and integrate new understandings and perspectives. New Developments in Self Psychology Practice gives voice to many of these developments, reflected in its four sections. The first section examines complexity theory, attachment theory and the work of the Boston Change Study Group. The second section is concerned with the treatment of children, while the third section examines various treatment modalities such as family therapy, group therapy, and supervisory process. The final section looks at diversity, difference, and otherness within both the therapeutic dyad and therapeutic community and considers how shame, enactments and traumatic experiences influence the therapeutic process.

Kohut's Twinship Across Cultures: The Psychology of Being Human chronicles a 10-year-voyage in which the authors struggled, initially independently, to make sense of Kohut‘s intentions when he radically re-defined the twinship experience to one of "being human among other human beings". Commencing with an exploration of Kohut’s work on twinship and an illustration of the value of what he left for elaboration, Togashi and Kottler proceed to introduce a new and very different sensitivity to understanding particular psychoanalytic relational processes and ideas about human existential anguish, trauma, and the meaning of life. Together they tackle the twinship concept, which has often been misunderstood and about which little has been written. Uniquely, the book expands and elaborates upon Kohut’s final definition, "being human among other human beings." It problematizes this apparently simple concept with a wide range of clinical material, demonstrating the complexity of the statement and the intricacies involved in recognizing and working with traumatized patients who have never experienced this feeling. It asks how a sense of being human, as opposed to being described as human, can be generated and how this might help clinicians to better understand and work with trauma. Written for psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists interested in self-psychological, intersubjective, and relational theories, Twinship Across Cultures will also be invaluable to clinicians working in the broader areas of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, social work, psychiatry and education. It will enrich their sensitivity and capacity to understand and treat traumatized patients and the alienation they feel among other human beings.