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essential aspect of the therapeutic process of addressing human development and growth.
Self psychology theory, which rejects Freudian ideology of the role sexual drives play in
organization of the psyche, focuses on the development of empathy toward the person in treatment
and the exploration of fundamental components of healthy development and growth. Therapists may
use self psychology theory in part to help people consider how their early experiences may
introduced self psychology in the 1970s with The Analysis of the Self. Progression of his work
with people who sought treatment led him to become increasingly dissatisfied with some of
the limitations of Freud’s approach. Specifically, he found fault with the approach's lack of
personality. Kohut began to explore the idea of self-love , considering whether it really was immature
Kohut suggested that some degree of narcissism could actually be healthy and beneficial to a
Kohut also disagreed with Freud about the source of narcissism . He believed it to result from a lack
when parents failed to provide empathic responses, a child would not develop a healthy sense of self-
esteem and would therefore look to other sources to gain a sense of worth and value.
that overly rigid adherence to Freud’s ideas often encouraged analysts to impose their own
those in treatment on the concerns they sought help with was more likely to yield better
treatment results. Self psychology places a high value on empathy, or the ability of the therapist to
are not able to develop a healthy sense of self, they may tend to rely on others in order to get needs
met. These others are called selfobjects (because they are outside the self). Selfobjects are a
they are incapable of meeting all of their own needs, but over the course of healthy
and desires from childhood to a new object (usually the analyst). Kohut formulated three
sense of self-worth and value. Just as people use a mirror to check appearance,
mirroring transference involves use of the affirming and positive responses of others
calm and comfortable. An example of this can be seen in children who run to
a parent for comfort after falling and being injured. The external other is
idealized as somebody who is calm and soothing when one cannot provide
likeness with others. For example, children want to be similar to their parents
and mimic the behaviors they observe. Over the course of healthy
Children may often fantasize that they have superpowers and/or see their parents as
time, children generally begin to recognize that their inflated perceptions of the self and their
parents are unrealistic. Children who are growing up in a supportive environment are
typically able to weather the resulting frustration and disappointment and develop a healthy
personality, according to Kohut. Empathy may be insufficient when a parent cannot react to
or adequately nurture a child, is unable to meet the selfobject needs of a child, or if the
dispositions of the parent and the child do not easily align. Any or all of these may affect the
personality may be a serious concern, narcissistic personality traits themselves are not
necessarily harmful.Self psychology helped provide a clearer and more
health care. Self psychology highlights the importance of empathy in the context of the
therapeutic relationship as a tool to understand and explain what has been observed, rather
treatment and healing process. When a therapist is able to demonstrate this ability to see
and understand a person's concerns through their point of view—what Kohut termed
experience-near observation—treatment may move forward more readily.
LIMITATIONS AND CONCERNS
Critics of self psychology argue that the theory is nothing more than supportive therapy and
say it is unlikely to create lasting change for people in treatment. It has also been suggested
that self psychology, while attempting to better explain narcissism, is not able to be applied
Other critics have stated that the theory is incomplete and does not adequately address all
factors of the psyche, such as drives and the unconscious, that may have an impact on a