The Restoration of the Self

Heinz Kohut

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780226450131
• eBook ISBN: 9780226450155
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Clinical Psychology
• Index: Psychology

In his foundational work The Restoration of the Self, noted psychoanalyst Heinz Kohut boldly challenges what he called "the limits of classical analytic theory" and the Freudian orthodoxy. Here Kohut proposes a "psychology of the self" as a theory in its own right—one that can stand beside the teachings of Freud and Jung.

Using clinical data, Kohut explores issues such as the role of narcissism in personality, when a patient can be considered cured, and the oversimplifications and social biases that unduly influenced Freudian thought. This volume puts forth some of Kohut's most influential ideas on achieving emotional health through a balanced, creative, and joyful sense of self.

"Kohut speaks clearly from his identity as a psychoanalyst-healer, showing that he is more of a psychoanalyst than most, and yet calling for major theoretical revisions including a redefinition of the essence of psychoanalysis."—American Journal of Psychotherapy

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Title Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• 1. The Termination of the Analysis of Narcissistic Personality Disorders
• 2. Does Psychoanalysis Need a Psychology of the Self?
• 3. Reflections on the Nature of Evidence in Psychoanalysis
• 4. The Bipolar Self
• 5. The Oedipus Complex and the Psychology of the Self
• 6. The Psychology of the Self and the Psychoanalytic Situation
• 7. Epilogue
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Concordance of Cases
• Index