1. Crossing the Cartesian Divide:
Using Applied Self Psychology and Intersubjectivity
to Improve the Practice of Medicine
Presenter:
Sharone A. Abramowtiz, MD
Discussant:
Henry Szor, MD
Presenter: |
Sharone A. Abramowtiz, MD |
Discussant: |
Henry Szor, MD |
Self Psychology Page | 23rd Conference Program
Overview
The purpose of this paper is to show how applied self psychology and intersubjectivity can guide physicians out of the restrictions of biomedical Cartesian thinking and encourage them to integrate a psychosocial and relational psychotherapeutic perspective into their medical practice. Familiarizing physicians with a contemporary approach to depth psychology such as self psychology’s emphasis on empathy and its understanding of selfobject organization, transference of the unconscious (Kohut, 1959, 1971, 1977, 1984) and the systems theory of intersubjectivity (Stolorow, Brandchaft & Atwood, 1987) (Stolorow & Atwood, 1992) can help physicians improve their medical practice and relationship to patients by improving interviewing and medical history taking, patient collaboration with medical treatment, psychosomatic and psychiatric assessment, and the understanding of individual experience of illness. In my opinion, a depth psychology paradigm, not just a biomedical one, improves the practice of medicine. This is a contemporary adaptation of Michael Balint’s work (1957) on the physician-patient relationship.