Heinz Kohut and Carl Rogers: A timely comparison.

States that H. Kohut (1971, 1978, 1984) has succeeded in integrating many of C. R. Rogers's (1951, 1961, 1980) concepts of humanistic psychology into his version of psychoanalysis. The similarities and differences between the 2 approaches are described. One important similarity concerns the therapist's attitude during the psychotherapeutic situation, with both authors stressing the value of empathy and openness. An important difference is that Kohut has theorized that the goal of psychotherapy, and of human development in general, is strengthening the structure of the self, rather than widening of the consciousness. The means by which Kohut has been able to provide a bridge between psychoanalysis and humanistic psychology are discussed, and the implications of Kohut's ideas for the practice of psychotherapy are considered. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The theory and practice of self psychology.

Reviews the book, The theory and practice of self psychology by M. T. White and M. B. Weiner (see record 1986-97572-000). White and Weiner provide a clear and concise overview of the central concepts of Kohut's self psychology in this clinically useful volume. Readers uninitiated in the self psychological literature are likely to gain an appreciation for the clinical utility of self psychological concepts. Readers who have previously explored Kohut's work may find (as did this reviewer) that a close reading of White and Weiner's book promotes a greater grasp of the evolution of Kohut's thought and a renewed appreciation for the profundity of his clinical observations. White and Weiner's book does have some minor shortcomings. The authors make little effort to place Kohut's self psychology within the historical context of psychoanalytic thought (keeping alive a tradition that some have said began with Kohut himself). As a result, useful and related efforts by others (e.g., Winnicott, Rogers, Binswanger, Sullivan, and others) at explicating the concept of the self go essentially ignored. Shortcomings notwithstanding, White and Weiner succeed in providing a highly accessible and lucid overview of self psychological concepts and in offering the reader a demonstration of how these concepts apply to the clinical situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychotherapy after Kohut: A textbook of self psychology.

Reviews the book, Psychotherapy after Kohut: A textbook of self psychology by Ronald R. Lee and J. Colby Martin (see record 1991-98948-000). More than a decade since Kohut's death, the volume of writing in the field of self psychology continues to expand, testifying to the stimulating challenge of his theories not only to mental health professionals in all disciplines but to those in the humanities as well. The latest contribution, Psychotherapy after Kohut: A textbook of self psychology, is a welcome arrival. Each chapter opens with a paragraph outlining teaching goals and closes with a summary and suggested readings for the following chapter. Lee and Martin provide a review of classical Freudian theory, brief excerpts of the classic cases from which it was derived, the principal early controversies, and a new view of Ferenczi's contributions. Lee and Martin provide a thoughtful, carefully reasoned, and comprehensive synthesis of the work of those writers who in their opinion have enhanced and expanded the concepts of self psychology and those who deny the significance of self-psychological concepts for psychoanalysis or psychotherapy or seek to demonstrate that the ideas are not new. Informative and challenging, Psychotherapy after Kohut, with its integration and synthesis of many points of view, is a contribution to the field of textbooks. Readers will find much to inform and strengthen their understanding of psychotherapy after Kohut. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self psychology since Kohut

The changes in psychoanalytic self psychology since its origination by Heinz Kohut are described as differences in three branches: the traditional, the intersubjective, and the relational. Each claims both a distinctiveness and a major influence within self psychology. These are described and contrasted. It is suggested that an effort to integrate all three is premature, and that they will continue to grow separately.     

Carl Rogers and the origins of client-centered therapy.

In developing client-centered therapy (CCT), C. Rogers adopted ideas from O. Rank, J. Taft (1951), J. Dewey, W. Kilpatrick (1926), and G. Watson (1940); and the writings of these authors can provide deeper philosophical and psychological foundations for CCT. Rogers's extreme position against authority is subject to criticism; and practitioners of CCT should examine their own attitudes in this matter, as a less extreme attitude would be consistent with ideas underlying CCT. It is suggested that CCT should not be restricted to the ideas of Rogers alone, but should be open to related ideas. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kohut and contextualism: Toward a post-Cartesian psychoanalytic theory.

This article portrays Heinz Kohut as a pivotal transitional figure in the development of a post-Cartesian, fully contextual psychoanalytic psychology. Despite his contextualization of narcissism and movement toward phenomenology and perspectivalism, remnants of Cartesian, isolated-mind thinking persisted in his metapsychology of the self and in his view of analytic empathy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intrapsychic conflict versus developmental deficit: A causal modeling approach to examining psychoanalytic theories of narcissism.

Over the past 15 years, disorders of the self have occupied the attention of the psychoanalytic community. In particular, Otto Kernberg and Heinz Kohut have written extensively about narcissism, but from distinctly different theoretical vantage points. Each theorist has attracted adherents, but the debate between the conflict and deficit models of narcissism has been largely polemical, serving to further polarize the psychoanalytic community. Using the techniques of causal modeling, the article introduces this powerful data analytic strategy to psychoanalytic researchers and tests a model of narcissism which permits a direct, empirical comparison of some of the ideas of Kernberg and Kohut. In a number of strategic comparisons involving the theoretical underpinnings of narcissism--the structural stability of the self, damaged self-esteem, and grandiosity--these data appear to be more consistent with the deficit model, although various aspects of the conflict model also find support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychotherapy of the elderly self.

Reviews the book, The psychotherapy of the elderly self by Hyman L. Muslin (see record 1992-98107-000). The purpose of this book is to describe the extension of psychoanalytic therapy in the Kohut mode to the elderly. Specifically the author describes the changes the elderly must cope with, the impact these changes have on the elderly self, and the kind of psychotherapy that will best help them cope with these changes. This book has a rather narrow focus, and is likely to be of interest mostly to those engaged in the Kohutian version of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. It does not present much material that is likely to be of help to those engaged in the more general practice of psychology with aged individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heinz Kohut and Carl Rogers: Toward a constructive collaboration.

Examines similarities and differences in the work of H. Kohut (published 1971–1984) and C. Rogers (published 1951–1987) in relation to therapeutic practice. Rogers' contributions may enhance the effectiveness of Kohut's self psychology by freeing it from the orthodoxy of classical psychoanalysis with a focus on the therapeutic qualities of the therapist. Alternatively, Kohut's work can help client-centered therapists (1) discover that clients are often developmentally arrested, (2) use the transference concept to go beyond clients' present experiences, (3) understand clients' idealization of the therapist as an expression of a developmental need, and (4) better understand clients' behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the enduring and substantial influence of Carl Rogers' not-quite necessary nor sufficient conditions.

Carl Rogers' 1957 paper (see record 2007-14639-002) is arguably the most successful of his many attempts to clarify and render testable the ideas behind client-centered therapy. While each of the conditions that Rogers postulated has been linked to positive therapeutic outcome, taken together they have never been conclusively proved (nor disproved) to be either necessary or sufficient for positive outcome. Nevertheless, the overriding "take-home" message in this classic paper--that the therapist's attitude and caring presence is critical for therapeutic success--is one that has had virtually unparalleled influence in every segment of the psychotherapeutic community. Clinical and theoretical innovations in the psychoanalytic community serve as examples of the following proposition: that Rogers' concepts, while accepted more than ever by a remarkably wide variety of psychotherapists, remain essentially unacknowledged as originating with him or in the tradition of humanistic and client-centered therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Recent developments in psychoanalysis.

Reviews the book, Recent developments in psychoanalysis by Morris N. Eagle (see record 1987-98252-000). This volume is a timely and important addition to psychoanalytic literature. Eagle states that it is "intended as a systematic overview of recent ideas with the aim of providing a coherent account of the current status of psychoanalytic theory." His overview is generally fair, but penetrating, and exposes much of the irrationality and confusion that have plagued psychoanalytic thinking recently. He suggests that this confusion has arisen out of the tendency of psychoanalytic theorists to ignore advances in other areas of psychological research and related fields, particularly in the area of psychology of child development. Further confusion has been created by their attempt to formulate new concepts and ideas within the framework of classical Freudian metapsychology, which is rooted in instinct theory. These attempts, in many cases, have led to the use of a psychoanalytic language full of jargon, rendering theoretical formulations expressed in this way totally incomprehensible and aloof from logical consideration, while pretending to add metapsychological depth. Ultimately, however, he tries to elucidate the many real contributions to psychoanalytic theory by these theorists and to integrate their work into a coherent framework. His efforts in this regard reflect a sympathetic approach to the aims and ideals of psychoanalysis as a social science and a form of therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Carl R. Rogers: Distinguished Professional Contribution Award.

Recognizes the receipt of the American Psychological Association's first Distinguished Professional Contribution Award by Carl Rogers on September 2, 1972 (at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Honolulu). The award citation reads: "His commitment to the whole person has been an example which has guided and challenged the practice of psychology in the schools, in industry, and throughout the community. By devising, practicing, evaluating, and teaching a method of psychotherapy and counseling which reaches to the very roots of human potentiality and individuality, he has caused all psychotherapists to reexamine their procedures in a new light. Innovator in personality research, pioneer in the encounter movement, and a respected gadfly of organized psychology, he has made a lasting impression on the profession of psychology." Rogers's biography and bibliography are also included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A reply to Emery's comments.

In response to E. J. Emery's (see record 1987-26891-001) comments on the present author's (see record 1986-10712-001) comparison of H. Kohut and C. Rogers, the present author argues that he did not blur distinctions between Kohut and Rogers, did not risk metamorphosizing Kohut into a Rogerian, did not inappropriately align Kohut with M. Mahler, or return to Freudian terminology with the use of the term vectors of psychological energy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kohut, psychoanalysis, and psychology—A response to Masek.

As a psychologist grounded in and respectful of general psychology, and as a clinician who uses and teaches ego psychological theory, it seems to the author that Masek (1986) overstates the meaning and contribution of Kohut's work. As he points out, the current status of psychoanalysis—as theory and as praxis—is unparalleled for its "creative ferment". Indeed, the metaphor of identity crisis might well apply to the timing and severity of the upheavals confronting the psychoanalytic movement today. But that internal chaos is not wholly attributable to Kohut. Both ego psychology and object relations theory raise questions which jeopardize such fundamental tenets of Freudian theory as the dualistic theory of libidinal and aggressive drives; the primacy of Oedipal conflict in the etiology of psychopathology; the neutrality and impersonal detachment of the analyst. In addition, the limitations of psychoanalysis as a treatment when costed against alternative therapies has radically reduced the client pool, thus raising other questions about theory and practice. From this context, the author reviews Masek's view of the impact of Kohut on the theory and practice of "mainstream" psychoanalytic thought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Historical inaccuracy.

Comments on the original article, "Theoretical Insularity and the Crisis of Psychoanalysis," by Frank Summers (see record 2008-09085-001). In that article, on p. 416, the following statement is made: "Sometime in the 1970s, Kohut asked George Pollock, then the Director of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis, for a self psychology curriculum to be included in the training program. When Pollock refused, Kohut considered breaking away and forming his own institute. Although the founder of self psychology decided to stay at the Chicago Institute, Pollock never forgave him, and the bitterness and enmity between the ego and self psychologists at that institute is still evident." Here, the current author--a friend and colleague of Kohut's--maintains that this statement is untrue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and proverbs: Folk psychology revisited.

Comments on T. B. Rogers's (see record 1991-03999-001) article on the role of proverbs in psychology, viewing Rogers's exposition as an advocacy of folk psychology. Rogers's contention that psychologists have set out to test proverbs as psychological hypotheses with some frequency is criticized, and potential uses of proverbs in psychological research on the human condition are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)