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L Balter

Publications and source records attributed to L Balter.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Observation and theory in psychoanalysis: the self psychology of Heinz Kohut.

The development of self psychology by Heinz Kohut illustrates the influence of observational method on theory formation in psychoanalysis. In 1959 Kohut began to emphasize empathy and introspection over the traditional combination of free association and evenly suspended attention. This became an important part of a process of revision in psychoanalytic theory which culminated in self psychology. This paper demonstrates how and why that particular change in observational method influenced that particular revision of theory.

Attention↗
PubMed1990

Psychoanalytic observation.

The recent focus on empathy as the essential activity in psychoanalytic data gathering has underemphasized the complexity of psychoanalytic observation and has failed to identify what truly makes it unique among modes of psychological investigation. It is a process that includes introspection and empathy. However, it also includes the analyst's observation of the patient's behavior, and particularly verbal behavior, in a way that is not necessarily empathic. The psychoanalytic use of introspection and behavioral observation together, as they are modified by the analysand's free association and the analyst's evenly hovering attention, provides a unique method of data gathering. The transient, mutually related regressions of analyst and analysand which partly constitute the analyzing instrument modify the field of observation available to both, providing better access to derivatives of the analysand's unconscious mental functioning. This more complex concept of psychoanalytic observation, as opposed to that in which empathy is predominant, has important implications for psychoanalytic training, clinical work, and theory.

Behavior↗