Collapse of the Self And Its Therapeutic Restoration

Dr. Kainer has written a healing text. So observes James Grotstein in his Foreword to The Collapse of the Self and Its Therapeutic Restoration. Grotstein's word play alludes both to the content of the book-a rich and clinically detailed account of the therapeutic restoration of the self - and to the healing process for analysts themselves that follows from Rochelle Kainer's sensitive integration of heretofore dissociated realms of psychoanalytic theory. More specifically, she attempts to show the natural flow between "subject" and "object" and "internal" and "external" as these concepts have been employed by different schools of psychoanalytic thought. In describing how the reworking of pathological internal object relationships occurs in conjunction with the transformation of selfobject failures, Kainer brings new insight to bear on the healing of the self at the same time as she contributes to healing the historic split in psychoanalysis between Kleinian theory and self psychology. In clear and readable prose, Kainer brings her viewpoint to life with extensive case illustrations. These illustrations, refracted through the lens of her uniquely integrative perspective, bring refreshing clarity to elusive theoretical concepts. Of special note is Kainer's distinction between normal and pathological identifications, and her subsequent elaboration of the role of identification with ideal objects in the creation of the self. Equally valuable is her introduction of the term "imaginative empathy" to characterize the kind of attunement that is integral to analytic healing; her nuanced description of the relation between imaginative empathy and projective identification bridges the worlds of Kleinian theory and self psychology in an original and compelling way. She ends by spelling out how her theoretical viewpoint leads to a more comprehensive understanding of various clinical phenomena, including sadomasochistic identifications, narcissistic injuries, compulsive eating and autistic self-soothing, and psychotic residues in neurotic structures. What we have in The Collapse of the Self and Its Therapeutic Restoration, then, is a sophisticated yet accessible work, gracefully written, that elaborates a relational theory of thinking, of creativity, of identification, and of the formation and healing of psychic structure. Kainer's ability to bring the often dissonant voices of different psychoanalytic schools into theoretical harmony as she develops her viewpoint conveys both the breadth of intellectual engagement with colleagues and the depth of clinical engagement with patients that inform her project from beginning to end.Kainer, Rochelle G. K. is the author of 'Collapse of the Self And Its Therapeutic Restoration' with ISBN 9780881633177 and ISBN 0881633178.