Towards a Maturational Theory of the Self

What do I mean by a maturational theory? Perhaps first I should quote the Oxford Dictionary; "Mature" comes from the Latin word "Maturus" which means ripe and its dictionary definition is "complete in natural development or growth. The word "maturation" of course then means the action of coming to full growth and development ..

The Difficult Psychotherapy Patient

Ladies and gentlemen It gives me a great deal of pleasure to be the opening speaker at this conference on "The Difficult Psychotherapeutic Patient". My aim today is not to give you a comprehensive appraisal of all these difficult psychatric patients we may meet, nor might I hastily add, is my sub-heading "south of the border" tending to imply the severity ..

Faces of intimacy - the Role of Intimate Affect in the Structure of the Self

From the time of Aristotle, man has been fascinated by, theorised about and has been very much "caught up" in emotion. Many theories have evolved over that period of time to try to explain where these 'passions' came from and what they are about. In 1872, Darwin, in a monograph ..

How to Survive as a Psychotherapist

I have found this topic one of the hardest to write upon for, no sooner than I think about it, I am reminded of the 'grey' areas of my own work: my mistakes and my 'close shaves'. It is not easy to think about these. The topic brings forth memories of painful moments, difficult times and periods of great distress. I am the product of my childhood and also of my immediate ..

Psychotherapy, Boundaries and the Self

Ladies and gentlemen, I feel very honoured to be here tonight, talking to you about boundaries. When Rosemary Tredgold invited me to speak she, in her usually sagastic way, defined the issues and many of the problems we all have to grapple with, and come to terms with, as therapists. The problems for therapists, in this realm of human interaction is, I believe, greater ..

An Outline of the Basic Therapeutic Model

First of all, as an introduction to our frame of reference, Craigie Macfie and I will outline the principal elements of our theoretical model, which is self-psychological. I will lay down some of the important elements of the model, and Craigie will elaborate on them. We, of course, will not be able to give you more than a basic outline of the model, but I hope it will be ..

Recent Developments in Psychotherapy

Ladies and gentlemen, in this short paper, I will be talking about the area of my own specialty which is intensive psychotherapy. For an appreciation of what other modes of therapy that may be helpful in less severe disorders I treat, I refer you to Dr. William Pinsof's book, entitled "Integrative Problem-Centered Therapy," which I recently received. It is well worth reading ..

Ignorance: the Art in Psychotherapy - a Self Psychological Approach

When I was a young child, and I think it was on my fifth birthday, my European grandmother presented me with a toy watering can, bucket and spade. It was yellow as I remember, and she told me that if I knew how to use those three items there would be very little else to learn about life ..

Circumnavigating Darwin

Few men have contributed to the understanding of mankind as much as Darwin has. His "Origin of Species" and "The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals" are landmark contributions. A great deal has been written about his work and in my field as a psychotherapist it would be naive of me to add to the long list of arguments and counter-arguments concerning ..

Demystifying Psychotherapy

My proposition to you today is that psychotherapy theory is a myth. As this paper unfolds I want to define myth, to provide my definition of psychotherapy, to overview the history of psychotherapy, to build on some facts provided by primatology and psychotherapy research and then to draw together some ideas from these that form the body of my ..

Developmental Infant Research, Organisation of Personality, and 'Criminal' Behaviour

In 1543, Copernicus published "The Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres". Until then man believed that the earth was the centre of the universe with all other heavenly bodies revolving around it. Copernicus' observations of the movement of the stars, along with phenomena such as lunar ..

Entitlement the Other Side of Belonging

"A thing which has not been understood inevitably reappears; like an unlaid ghost, it cannot rest until the mystery has been resolved and the spell broken." Sigmund Freud: Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-year old Boy. My paper is a research paper; it asks more questions than it can deliver answers to. It is work in progress. This paper is about belonging, trauma and ..