An Expansion of Motivational Theory: Lichtenberg's Motivational Systems Model

A theory of motivation is at the core of each psychoanalytic model. It fundamentally shapes our developmental view of a person from infancy to senescence. It addresses the “why” questions concerning human behavior and experience. It serves in the clinical arena as the central organizing fulcrum and underpinning of our understandings and explanations. The importance of motivational theory clearly cannot be overstated.

Integrating infant studies, a vast range of empirical research, and clinical evidence, Lichtenberg has taken up the monumental task of developing a comprehensive motivational theory. The unifying goal that he set for himself was “to define motivational systems that exist in early infancy, persist in altered forms throughout life, and characterize observable changes in motivational dominance in an analytic session” (Lichtenberg, 1988, p. 60). In proposing five motivational systems in his book Psychoanalysis and Motivation, Lichtenberg (1989), in my opinion, provided us with the most complex and comprehensive motivational theory extant in psychoanalysis today.

Motivation refers generally to “the process of initiating, sustaining and directing psychological or physical activities” (Goldenson, 1984, p. 472). Phenomenologically motivations are experienced in a shifting kaleidoscope of desires, urges, aims, and strivings. Empirical research