Kohut-Self Psychology

Kohut’s theory in the 1970s in the USA was a contemporary version of psychoanalytical theory. He rejected the Freudian idea that sexual drive play an important role in the personality development. Instead, he stated that empathy is an essential aspect of the therapeutic process. This was a new element compared to the original psychoanalytical approach, he believed that the therapist needs to understand the client from his/her perspective. He called this empathic attunement.

 

 

According to his self-psychology theory early experiences contribute to the formation of the sense of self. If a child gets appropriate responses in the relationship with the self-objects (significant others) the child will internalise this positive attitude towards him/herself and will have a healthy sense of self and will be able to form healthy relationships. This happens when the parents meet the self-object needs of the child, or in other words, the parents have appropriate empathy towards the child. As a result, the child can become an adult who can self-regulate, who is secure, resilient and has a healthy self-esteem. These positive early experiences contribute to self-cohesion as an adult. Kohut emphasised the role of these interactions with the self-objects (significant others) and how they play a role in personality development. He also believed that children are basically narcissistic, they prefer rewarding experiences. Children can internalise these positive attitudes and can self-love.

However, if the parent displays insufficient empathy, or in other words, is unable to meet the self-object needs of the child, the opposite will happen, the child will become an insecure adult. Bad self-objects will be internalised, the adult will rely on others for praise and gratification and instead of a cohesive personality, it will be fragmented.

In extreme cases the adult may have a constant need of admiration, may be self-inflated, arrogant, jealous and can expose narcissistic rage even in the therapeutic relationship. These feelings stem from injurious developmental experiences and these are usually the expression of fear.

Kohut believed that this internalised negative self-object can be transmuted and repaired by the therapeutic relationship. The client can take on a good self-object through transference. 3 types of transference can be helpful to reflect unmet self-object needs of the client: mirroring, idealising and twinship. By mirroring transference the therapist can reflect back a sense of self—worth, by idealising transference the therapist can express admiration and by twinship transference the therapist can reflect back some kind of “alikeness”. Through this new reparative attachment and relationship the client can build a new sense of self.