Can psychoanalysis find its self?

Abstract

There is a place for the theory of the self in psychoanalysis. To justify that claim, I return to an era in the development of psychoanalytic thinking about the self that preceded Kohut's formulations and that has set itself on a course of evolving a concept of the self more congruent with extant structural theory. I try to articulate the potential role of such a self-concept in connection with the issues of personal agency and subjectivity, complex personal qualities, areas of the complex interaction and integration of intrapsychic structures, object relations, narcissism, and internalization. The intent of this discussion is to facilitate the further development and articulation of the psychoanalytic theory of the self, particularly in terms of its integration with structural theory, to promote clearer thinking and more effective clinical efforts.