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The concepts of the self found in the work of Jung and Kohut differ conceptually, ontologically and morphogenetically. While at times Jung and Kohut use the term “self” to refer to very similar clinical phenomena, on other occasions their use of the term refers to strikingly different aspects and functions of the psyche.
This essay proposes that the work of these two psychologists, while different, is complementary and that Jung's earlier concept of the self can provide a useful backdrop against which to understand the later formulations of Kohut. To illustrate this relationship more precisely, let us begin with a brief summary of the self concept in the work of these two theorists, followed by a discussion of ways the two concepts may usefully be interrelated.
Kohut's (1971, 1977, 1984) self psychology is both an intrapsychic and an interpersonal theory. The child's psychological life is determined by, and, in a sense, composed of, the result of the interaction of the young child's early relationships with his or her caregivers and certain innate, “nuclear” narcissistic determinants. These determinants are the infantile potentials for mature self-esteem and a cohesive sense of self. They consist of the archaic, grandiose self, that pole of the infantile nuclear self which eventually leads to the development