Biomedical subjects

D G Kitron

Publications and source records attributed to D G Kitron.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

A developmental perspective of depression--towards a novel formulation.

A novel conceptualization of depression, analyzed in a developmental frame of reference, is based on three major postulates: 1) the distinction between an anaclitic type of depression, triggered by the traumatic loss of a need-satisfying object, and depression of a reflexive (narcissistic) type, caused by the loss of a recognizing/mirroring object; 2) in principle, anaclitic object loss involves reflexive implications and vice versa; 3) very early breaks of object relationships, at the first symbiotic stage of life, are pre-narcissistic by nature. These three assumptions form the basis for a systematic juxtaposition of two developmental lines--one line from first-stage symbiosis to anaclitic object relations, and the second line--from second-stage symbiosis to reflexive object relations. Even though the two lines are closely intertwined, corresponding distinct forms of depressive reactions can be discerned in each line, according to the type of the lost object relationship.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Transference and countertransference implications of psychotherapy conducted in a foreign language.

Psychotherapy possesses distinct characteristics when it is conducted in the patient's native language if this language is not also the therapist's mother tongue, a fairly common situation with immigrant patients. The choice of a native therapist, who speaks the foreign patient's mother tongue but lacks perfect command of that language, involves some specific implications, including conflicts around issues of control, regression, and separation-individuation. The author presents several clinical vignettes to demonstrate these conflicts as they are manifested in the therapeutic encounter, especially in various transferential and countertransferential phenomena. He suggests that the therapist-patient relationship in such cases has significant positive therapeutic implications that can facilitate rather than complicate treatment.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Narcissism and object love as separate but dependent developmental lines.

The literature on the existence of a separate narcissistic line of development is reviewed. In contrast to both extreme points of view--the classical one, not recognizing any separate narcissistic line of development, designed by Freud and sustained by Kernberg, Mahler, and others, and the Kohutian one, claiming the separate independent existence of a narcissistic developmental line--there are various possibilities of intermediate solutions. I suggest that in the frame of reference of Anna Freud's concept of developmental lines, two separate but interdependent lines could be defined, one of object love and the other, rather than termed narcissistic, of introjective-egocentric characteristics. The development and the possible regression in the possible regression in the realm of both lines and dealt with and schematically laid out.

Ego↗

PubMed1990

The Children's Apperception Test: possible applications for adults.

This paper illustrates the benefits that can be gained from administering the Child's Apperception Test (CAT) to adults. Five CAT and five Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) pictures were administered to 20 freshmen psychology students and 20 mental hospital patients. Five CAT-Human (CAT-H) and five TAT pictures were shown to 20 other freshmen psychology students, thus isolating the effect of the animal figures used in the CAT. The stories of all subjects were rated on various measures designed to test the level and type of projection. Results were compared and analyzed, both statistically and clinically, and demonstrated by clinical examples. Findings of this study prove the unique contribution of the CAT in reflecting basic infantile conflicts and experiences, and indicate that use of the CAT is beneficial for certain adult personality types.

Adult↗