An Appraisal of Self Psychology

The strength of self psychology lies in its additions to psychoanalytic technique; its weakness in the reductionism of its theories. It offers a coherent clinical theory for treatment within the 'widening scope' consistent with the core technique of psychoanalysis. There are also significant applications to the treatment of neuroses. Self psychology is focused in technique on needs, met in accordance with Rapaport's concept of 'stimulus nutriment', which are, in their essence, outside the sphere of intrapsychic conflict. Archaic needs include processes related to psychotic phenomena and, I suggest, to deficits in the organization of fantasy. Such deficits lead to excessive dependence on the environment so that an interactional theory is required. Self psychology adds an interactional point of view through the concept selfobject. This point of view is focused on the subjective experience of the patient by the recommendation for 'prolonged empathic immersion'. Self psychology has an implicit concept of limited goals so that an analytic end result may mean a reorganization of the self without necessarily leading to object love. The reductionism in self psychology obscures its valid contributions to the role of aggression, conflicts and parental failures in empathy. Integration of self psychology with psychoanalysis requires clarification of the limits of 'prolonged empathic immersion' and the place for interpretation of resistance, defence and drive conflicts.