Presenter:
Frank M. Lachmann, PhD
Chair:
Hans-Peter Hartmann, MD
Discussant:
Ernest S. Wolf, MD
Self Psychology Page | 20th Conference Program
Summary of Master Class Lecture:
This talk addresses the misconception that self psychology does not deal with or interpret aggression. Kohut's initial conceptualizations of narcissism, its treatment, and the failure of the critics of self psychology to keep up with the post-Kohut expansion and modification of self psychology are discussed. From Kohut's perspective, analysts focus on the selfobject ruptures and the person's strivings for self maintenance and self integration. As a consequence of a better integrated sense of self, an increase in the capacity to regulate strong affects, such as rage, would follow. Two vignettes, one from a paper by Anna Freud, the other from the work of Gerald Stechler, contrast the implications in viewing aggression as an innate drive and aggression as a reaction.
Several related but separate issues are considered utilizing the theory of the five motivational systems (Lichtenberg, Lachmann, and Fosshage, 1992, 1996). Is aggression best viewed as proactive or as reactive to threat, frustration, or injury? How is reactive aggression transformed into eruptive aggression? What is the relationship between aggression and assertion? What are the clinical implications of contexturalizing aggression? Illustrations from studies of murderers and serial killers, and detailed discussions of analytic cases exemplify the clinical implications of the views presented.