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Any book entitled The Real Self is bound to be of interest to a Horneyan audience, who will be especially alert to see how another clinician explores one of the cornerstones of Horney's own theory.
In this sixth book by Dr. Masterson on the Borderline Personality Disorder, he states that he is not so much creating a new concept as taking a fresh perspective on material he has previously approached from an object-relations viewpoint. He describes how his involvement with the “real self” grew out of a clinical dilemma. Many of his borderline patients continued to have difficulty activating their own lives even after extensive working-through of the “abandonment depression.” Further interpretation along these lines did not produce more promising results, and he turned his attention instead to the Real Self, that core of individuality which develops and flowers under optimal circumstances. Using primarily Mahler's theory, he hypothesizes that for the real self to develop in the early years, the mother's continued validation and encouragement are required. To help his patients who were now struggling with the same task in therapy, he developed a technique he called “communicative matching.” This consists of offering the patient support, real-life guidance and information, and some life wisdom, all carefully timed and matched to his or her emerging real self. Masterson is careful to warn that “communicative matching” must be used judiciously and in concert with other more conventional interventions, and in no way replaces standard technique.
In addition to the chapters on clinical work, there are also sections on sociological factors affecting the real self, and on creativity and the real self. Among the most interesting points in the section on sociology is a persuasive argument describing how Japanese culture, through early overindulgence of infantile narcissism abruptly replaced by shaming, appears to have created a national character similar to the Narcissistic Personal