Intimate Attachments: Toward a New Self Psychology

Rating:
Summary: a good introduction to contemporary self psychology
Review: Intimate Attachments is a much needed book - one that clearly fills the space between developmental theory (a la Bowlby) and one of the major schools of thought in contemporary psychoanalytic theory (i.e., Kohutian self psychology). With a thorough discussion of theoretical dovetailing and each theory's assumptive underpinnings, the authors provide a rich yet accessible framework for understanding patients from a "new" (integrative) perspective. A reworking of the notions of transference and intimacy (within the therapeutic relationship) rounds out the theoretical picture, which is then fleshed out with numerous vignettes of work with children, adolescents, and adults. This book provides a good introduction to self psychology to those who are new to the field, yet offers something for the veteran as well.