11 Discussion: Models for Transmuting Internalization

Tolpin's chapter represents a further refinement of her thinking in relation to the theory of the development of the self that she had described in earlier papers (M. Tolpin, 1971, 1978; Tolpin & Kohut, 1980). These papers are an invaluable contribution to the psychoanalytic literature as they have further elaborated on Kohut's views on the development of the self; especially in light of the recent findings of infant research (e.g., Demos, 1984; Sander, 1975; Stern, 1977).

In the previous chapter, Tolpin interprets a series of the baby's everyday experiences (feeding, playing, being lifted up, falling) in a manner similar to her interpretation of the developmental significance of separation anxiety and the transitional object (M. Tolpin, 1971). The description of these infant experiences and their interpretations are models for the conceptualization of transmuting internalization of the caretakers' selfobject functions. For example, when Tolpin details the caretaker's functions such as “picking the baby up, talking to him, soothing and holding,” she presents a vivid picture of the complex set of experiences that touch on various, interrelated aspects of development, that cannot be reduced to “satiation of hunger” or the “satisfaction of the oral drive.” Rather, these experiences ought to be considered as precursors of psychic functions that, through repetition and optimal frustration, become fundamental aspects of the developing self. Even the casual observer can follow the impact of the caretaker's ministrations: the baby becomes calm and is then able to nurse. Calming the baby precedes nursing: a bit of structure building through transmuting internalization takes place before satiation can be assumed to alter the infant's