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Dr. Fosshage has Asked me to Discuss Dr. Scharff's work, giving particular attention to the question of how change occurs. I pursue my discussion from the perspective of my understanding of compromise formation theory (Brenner, 1982, 1994).
From the perspective of compromise formation theory, the analyst's and analysand's conscious fantasies and behaviors are related to and derived from complexes of unconscious fantasies. These fantasies are conceptualized as structured compromise formations, which are constructed of pleasurable desires, unpleasant affects in the form of anxiety and/or depressive affect, defenses, and self-defeating, self-punitive trends. Guilt is understood to be a punishment fantasy associated with anxiety and/or depressive affect. Relatedly, shame is conceived of as a variety of guilt (see Rothstein, 1994). This theoretical perspective stresses the interminability of conflict and its ever shifting multiple determinants.
Scharff's presentation is organized from an object relations perspective that emphasizes a conception of trauma. An analyst working from the vantage point of compromise formation theory believes such experiences exert an important shaping influence on fantasies and is particularly interested in the unique, personal