Introduction

Nearly every introduction to a new volume of Progress in Self Psychology makes reference to the increasing range of thought that falls under the umbrella known originally as the psychoanalytic psychology of the self. Numerous metaphors, from wings of a house to streams of a river, have been offered to describe this expanding diversity.

Where Kohut was initially heralded for helping us move away from a positivistic view of the therapist as the possessor of truth, he was later criticized—by some—for still clinging to a one-person psychology that underemphasized relational dynamics. Where two-person psychologies were initially lauded for providing a better reflection of psychological life and the therapeutic process, they were later criticized—again, by some—for still embodying a philosophy of isolated minds. Today those who write from the intersubjective and relational realms of our theory emphasize contextualism rather than a two-person psychology.1

Any new idea or paradigm risks an overcorrection in the course of the pendulum swing toward the new idea. Kohut clearly believed that the analysts of his day did not sufficiently emphasize the patient's subjective experience. He sought to correct this. Post-Kohutian intersubjectivists believe that self psychology has not sufficiently emphasized the subjectivity of the therapist. They, too, have sought to correct this. Each point of view has significant implications for clinical practice.