Polarities of Experience: Relatedness and Self-definition in Personality Development, Psychopathology, and the Therapeutic Process Book

In this groundbreaking book, Sidney J. Blatt proposes that psychological development is a lifelong personal negotiation between two fundamental dimensions: relatedness and self-definition. Psychological development, from youth to old age, is a constant balancing act between these two polarities, with most individuals favoring to varying degrees either one or the other. Exaggerated emphasis on one developmental line at the expense of the other, however, can lead to a variety of mental disorders. Within this framework, mental disorders are seen not as clusters of present or absent symptoms, as in the current DSM diagnostic system, but rather as compensatory exaggerations of the normal polarities of relatedness and self-definition. The author argues that this idea of personality development has powerful implications for therapy and describes research indicating that people at opposite ends of the spectrum respond differently to psychotherapy with obvious affects on therapeutic change and growth.Read More