You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
It seems to this reviewer that for some time now inflation has affected psychiatric literature. Not only are too many books published, but too many articles are expanded into books. This book is a case in point. What could have been a fine, concise article on the technical aspects of therapy with borderline patients, has been inflated into a repetitious book, and almost two-thirds consists of patient interviews. Having said that, I should also say that this is a sound book and can be of real help, especially for the beginning psychiatrist. Dr. Masterson is a skillful therapist who has had extensive experience dealing with these very difficult patients.
Part I of the book deals with the theoretical aspects of the borderline personality. It includes a good review of the literature as well as a careful description of the developmental arrest that leads to the distinctive psychopathology of this syndrome. Masterson draws heavily from the monumental work on separation-individuation of Margaret Mahler and finally comes to a position that is very close to that of Otto Kernberg. Stripped of its cumbersome terminology, the following process takes place:
The mothers of these individuals have a compulsive need to keep the child from leaving and rewards the child for clinging and regression, but withdraws her emotional availability when he makes efforts to separate. The developing child experiences his mother as a split personality, alternately rewarding and withdrawing. His own self-image is split between the good, passive, compliant child versus the bad, guilty, ugly child. The child grows up and experiences all people and himself in this polarized and primitive way—the good and the bad. There is little integration, and thus the dilemma between the fear of engulfment and the fear of abandonment is the major difficulty that these individuals face.
These twin themes manifest themselves in the clinical picture and in the attempt at therapy. From his extensive experience, Dr. Master