Chapter 3 The Selfobject Relationship in Psychoanalytic Treatment

It is generally agreed that the selfobject concept is the cornerstone of the self-psychological perspective in psychoanalysis. So central is it that Basch has suggested that the proper designation of self psychology should be “selfobject theory of motivation.” In this chapter, I draw attention to the relational nature of the selfobject experience in psychoanalytic treatment. I identify the selfobject relationship as more than simply a static background experience of the patient against which therapy is effectively conducted. I suggest that it is a continuous dynamic experience that arises from a complex interaction between analyst and analysand and is integral to the ongoing therapeutic process. I also suggest that it is variously experienced, quite legitimately, by both participants and that this will have a significant effect on the course of the therapy.

Kohut formulated the concept of the selfobject1 when he began to apprehend his patients' complex mental states consistently from the vantage point of their subjective experience by using what he called vicarious introspection, or empathy. What he discovered was that his patients did not seem to experience him as an object toward whom they