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Perhaps the single most important contribution of Heinz Kohut to the understanding of human existence was his recognition that people function as selfobjects to each other and that the way they manage to do so profoundly influences the individual's possibility to develop a mature self and fulfill his life-projects. The awareness of what it actually means to need selfobject support and to function as a provider of “psychological oxygen” to another person's life-striving activities deeply influences one's capability to listen to both oneself and others in a more sensitive, empathic and carefully understanding way. The capability of professionals working with people (from analysts and therapists to teachers, social workers, nurses, doctors, priests, etc.) to function as adequately mirroring, alter ego, and idealizable selfobjects should not be underestimated (Hansen, 2001).
Originally Kohut (1971) defined selfobjects as “objects which are themselves experienced as part of the self” (p. xiv). Later he stated that selfobjects “are not part of physical reality but of psychological reality, observable only via introspection and empathy” (Kohut, 1984, p. 50). Kohut's definition of selfobjects, then, refers neither to other people (objects) nor relationships (object relations). Correspondingly, Wolf (1988) defines selfobjects as selfobject experiences: “Strictly speaking, therefore, selfobjects are neither selfs nor objects, but the subjective aspect of a function performed by a relationship. As such,