Chapter 5 Reflections on Integration of Theories: Kohut's Views on Integration

Morton and Estelle Shane and Stolorow outline two differing but valuable approaches to the integration of self psychology and classical psychoanalysis.

The Shanes' approach is similar to that of Kohut: they would integrate the two views by combining, in various ways, parts of the self psychology and classical models. As Lachmann mentioned earlier, this is a mixed-models approach. Stolorow rejects this approach on the grounds that the conceptualizations involved in the two systems are incompatible. He then develops a different and promising approach to integration aimed, in part, at avoiding conceptual incompatibility.

But are the arguments compelling? And must we therefore abandon the mixed-model approach? I think not, especially if we are willing to tolerate a degree of conceptual difficulty as our work proceeds—a departure from ideal theoretical fit that often accompanies creative work—for example, the work of Kohut and the work of Freud.

Stolorow's objections are illustrative of other, comparable positions in the literature. Stolorow states:

Although these formulations of complementary or combined models are

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not without heuristic value, it is my view that they are theoretically unsound. This is because conceptualizations of self-selfobject experiences and constructions of a drive-discharge apparatus exist on entirely different theoretical planes deriving from completely different universes of discourse. Whereas the former pertain to the experience-near realm of personal meaning, the latter are couched in the assumptions of materialism, determinism, and mechanism that were the heritage of Freud's immersion in 19th century biology. The two could never truly complement or combine with one another [this volume, p. 65].

I believe this argument is flawed in that it depends on an imprecise paring of the levels being considered. Stolorow compares experience-near aspects of self-psychological theory to experience-distant aspects of traditional theory, and of course they do no