The Disorders of the Self and their Treatment: An Outline

TLDR

The authors acknowledge that their brief survey covers a complex field of psychoanalytic self theory, noting that brevity limits detail and that the outline is not a definitive system. The survey aims to summarize psychoanalytic concepts of the self and related clinical formulations, presenting a progress report on the early evolution of psychoanalysis. The authors compile a concise outline summarizing key psychoanalytic theories of the self and their clinical applications.

Abstract

It is the aim of this survey to provide a summary of the concepts and theories of the psychoanalytic psychology of the self and of the clinical (diagnostic and therapeutic) formulations that are correlated to them. Although we wanted to be comprehensive and to convey a sense of the complexity of our subject matter, we tried to keep our presentation as brief as possible. While this goal needs no excuse, it may require a cautionary comment. In view of the fact that we had to keep our definitions terse and our formulations brief, we could not often indulge in the luxury of introducing qualifying statements. This is as we think it should be within the framework of a summarizing outline. It must be emphasized, however, that the paucity of restricting and modifying clauses does not imply any conviction on our part that we are presenting a finished or definitive system of thought. On the contrary, this survey should be considered to be a progress report about the present state of a step in the evolution of psychoanalysis that is itself only in its very beginning.