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The title, Reshaping The Self, sounds as though it is in the tradition of Kohut's (1971, 1977) Analysis of the Self and Restoration of the Self, in invoking a concrete entity—self. Unlike Kohut, however, Eigen does not set about to give a particular theoretical status to the concept of self. Rather, the self he has in mind is one's predominant sense of being, which he characterizes as “off” in those
seeking psychoanalytic psychotherapy, much as Winnicott (1965) described those with false self organizations and as the existentialists describe as those with a sense of inauthenticity. Eigen also is untroubled by seeming to refer to a literal self, because, like the other analysts I have mentioned, he gives particular attention to people's experience of themselves—each person tending to view himself as possessed of a unitary self (Grossman, 1982)—and because, as a committed object relationist, he regards people inherently as organizing their experience by schemas of self and others.
Eigen presents an unabashedly passionate account of the experience of being a person and of the quest in analytic psychotherapy, from the perspectives of both patient and therapist, to “right” oneself. There are dangers to portraying personal experience in such intensely emotional terms. This book, for example, often is effusive and sentimental. Nevertheless, Eigen's literary gift allows him to convey convincingly life's fervor and pathos. His searching observations, rich humanism, and openness about the analytic treatment experience make this volume one that will enrich neophyte and seasoned practitioner alike.
Eigen fertilely invokes philosophic, religious, and mythologic traditions, especially in their mystical, ecstatic, and tragic dimensions. He reminds us—if we have forgotten—of the mystery and miracle of the world and, even more, of ourselves and of our essentially spiritual natures. Though solidly schooled in Freud's work and that of the ego analysts, his heart is with an array of ana