PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

H S Erlich

Publications and source records attributed to H S Erlich.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

On loneliness, narcissism, and intimacy.

The complex interplay between narcissistic vulnerability, adolescent development, and the capacity for intimate relatedness is viewed here from the perspective of two distinct but interrelated experiential modes of Being and Doing. I offer a view of loneliness that begins with a critical reappraisal of the concept of narcissistic relatedness in association with difficulties in establishing intimacy. These difficulties are due to failures in the developmentally prescribed intimacy. These difficulties are due to failures in the developmentally prescribed integration of the experiential modalities of Being and Doing during the course of late adolescence and young adulthood. The type of loneliness encountered in adult life, its particular cast and subjectively experienced nature, are determined by the specific modality around which it has become primarily organized. Clinical material is presented to illustrate the meaning of loneliness in the presence of the object, and the paradoxical inability to be both with the object and without it.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Two kinds of change facilitating factors.

A wide variety of conceptualizations exists to account for the facilitation of change in psychotherapy. These are usually related to advances in psychopathological and/or developmental formulations. The approach to the subject usually follows causal logic, in the spirit of the medical model. The present paper argues that although causal factors operate in psychotherapeutic practice, alongside them there is a class of non-causal factors whose impact and contribution to therapeutic progress should not be underestimated. The paradoxical effect of these factors may be better understood if we examine those features that pertain not to focal "psychotherapeutic action," but to what enables it, namely to the background factors inherent in the psychotherapeutic situation. Of these, abstinence and constancy are two factors singled out for discussion. With the help of clinical vignettes, it is illustrated how these two controversial psychotherapeutic tenets contribute decisively to the creation and management of the psychotherapeutic endeavor. These contributions are discussed and elaborated in light of two experiential modalities, of Being and Doing, which provide a framework for the coexistence and conjoint effectiveness of causal and non-causal factors in individual functioning and development, as well as in psychotherapeutic practice.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

Reality, fantasy, and adolescence.

Psychoanalytic views of reality and fantasy are contingent upon a theory of ego/mind: A mental-apparatus-objective approach is distinguishable from an experiential-subjective approach. These two views are highly correlated with Being and Doing as underlying modalities of processing experience. Adolescent development necessitates the integration and amalgamation of these two modalities, which are reflected in relating to reality as objective and separate from, or as merged and fused with, the ego, with corresponding fantasy contents and ego states. As social reality exists as an independent variable, it poses real problems for such crucial aspects of adolescence as identity formation, psychosocial moratorium, and the generational gap.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Reflections on the treatment of adolescents in Israel.

Adolescence in Israel was reviewed in this Journal fifteen years ago by the late Shmuel Nagler (1), a dedicated and gifted clinician and researcher, who was particularly interested in this age group. It is noteworthy that at the time, by far the largest portion of Nagler's attention was taken up by adolescence in the kibbutz, and therefore also with its ideology and the successes and failures of this movement with regard to its adolescents. Undoubtedly, this exclusive emphasis was colored by the great personal and professional involvement that experts like Nagler had in the kibbutz movement. In itself, however, this emphasis bears testimony to the leading position which the kibbutz movement commanded in Israeli society, finding particular expression in the areas of education and mental health. In addition, however, it also points to the extremely intricate and complex interrelationships between adolescence and the social realities in which it takes place (2). In a somewhat speculative vein, I would like to make the observation that at that point of our historical development, the kibbutz, with its ideology and idealism, expressed the adolescent ego-ideal of Israeli society as a whole. The shift away from the idealizing posture towards a more realistic, though certainly still very special, place accorded the kibbutzim in present day Israeli society is indicative of the tremendous social changes that have taken place in it over the last few decades. I do not believe, however, that I would devote so much exclusive emphasis and attention to kibbutz adolescents, although they continue to hold a prominent and unique position in Israeli society.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Identification patterns of offspring of Holocaust survivors with their parents.

The patterns of identification with their parents of a sample of children of Holocaust survivors showed clear differences from those of a control group. As the clinical literature would indicate, these differences suggest a specific character organization rather than psychopathology. An explanation for the lack of agreement on this issue in the empirical literature is proposed and explored.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Boundaries, limitations, and the wish for fusion in the treatment of adolescents.

The centrality of boundaries to the adolescent experience is reviewed from a variety of perspectives, such as the development and consolidation of the self, superego internalization and authority, and the encounter between self and other. The study of boundaries through the experiential modes of Being and Doing leads to distinguishing two kinds of boundary experiences, one requiring separation and differentiation, the other leading to merger and fusion. Adolescence entails the integration of these two modalities so that identity formation and intimacy can take place. The implications for treatment are discussed and illustrated with a clinical vignette.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Denial in adolescence. Some contradictory aspects].

Adolescents are simultaneously subject to extremely divergent feelings of strength and of weakness and dependency, aggravated by intense regressive longings. In order to tolerate and master these feelings, adolescents commonly employ the defense of denial. This may result in splitting. A case except shows how such a defensive strategy may hinder or further psychic development.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Some dynamic and transactional aspects of family theraphy with psychotic patients.

The application of family therapy to families with psychotic patients involves both technical and theoretic observations and underpinnings. The implications of these for the understanding of certain family dynamics and the use of family therapy in general are investigated. The rhythm of real participation and observation on the therapist's part and the utilization of co-therapists is contrasted with a more authoritarian, 'director' model of intervention. Tendencies in these families towards frozenness and immobility, as well as splitting and chaos, must be counteracted, and are reflected in interactions and transactions between co-therapists. The importance of unravelling these patterns and aiding therapists in the framework of a specially designed, ongoing supervisory seminary is stressed.

Countertransference↗