Presenter: |
Kati Breckenridge, PhD |
Chair: |
Floyd Galler, MD, LFAPA |
Discussant: |
Judith Rustin, MSW |
Self Psychology Page | 20th Conference Program
This paper discusses the clinical and theoretical implications of the disclosure of a particular serious event in the analyst's life to some of that analyst's patients, namely divorce. A review of the psychoanalytic literature revealed only one article on divorce. This paper raises the question why there should be such silence on the topic and takes the position that there is no longer any rationale for this life event to be automatically closeted.
Three clinical vignettes are presented where the analyst revealed her impending divorce. The subsequent impacts on the analytic work are discussed from the point of view of selfobject relatedness and self-other relatedness.