The Collapse of the Self: And Its Therapeutic Restoration (Relational Perspectives Books) Book

The Collapse of the Self and its Therapeutic Restoration encompasses the historic and still extant tensions between object-relations and self psychology. Drawing on both perspectives, it is essentially a "healing text" (Grotstein) for contemporary psychoanalytic practice. Its meta-theoretical approach will be of interest to the experienced and well-versed psychoanalytic clinician, and its detailed case illustrations will make clear to therapists at all levels how a broader theoretical perspective can deepen clinical perceptions. Housed in a relational matrix, the book illustrates the natural rather than antagonistic relationship Dr. Kainer sees between self and object (other), and that of selfobject and internal object. Some of the more problematic constructs of object-relations, such as projective identification and containment, are reconceived as empathic instruments, serving selfobject functions of utmost clinical utility. Kainer views the self as housing the dialectical interplay between its pathological and non-pathological parts, fueled by the unspoken longing held by each patient for the ideal (best) self to transcend its pathology. The "collapsed" self - under the dominant sway of its pathological parts - such as autistic and psychotic residues and affective vulnerability -- is often heavily laden with unconscious adhesive identifications to the bad object. The therapeutic transcendence of pathology is seen as a function of the experience of analytic selfobject containment as a way of undoing these damaging identifications and rewriting the patient's life narrative. Due to its integration of self and object relations theory, this book will be of interest to practitioners of both approaches as well as those who are interested in using both approaches from within a relational perspective.Read More