Helmuth Kaiser, J. F. Masterson and the borderline struggle: How does an existential therapist survive in the object world?

Comparing the work of H. Kaiser and J. F. Masterson, this article describes some basic, theoretical differences between existential and object relations psychotherapy in the treatment of borderline patients. The issue of "centrality", the extent to which the therapeutic relationship is, in itself, the curative element in psychotherapy, is presented as a fundamental difference between existential and object relations approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)