Postmodern Self Psychology

Volume 18 of Progress in Self Psychology, the last volume under the editorship of Arnold Goldberg, charts the path of self psychology into the postmodern era of psychoanalysis.It begins with Goldberg's thoughtful consideration of the several tributaries of self-psychological thought in the decades after Kohut and continues with Mark Gehrie's elaboration of "reflective realism" as a self-psychological way out of epistemological quagmires about the "essential reality" of the analytic endeavor.Clinical contributions offer contemporary perspectives on clinical themes that engaged Kohut in the 1970s: a study of the effect of "moments of meeting' on systems of pathological accomodation (Taerk); a reappraisal of empathy as a "bi-directional negation" (Preston and Shumsky); and an assessment of the diverse clinical phenomena that justify a prolonged "understanding only" phase of treatment (Memelstein). The theory section of Volume 18 comparably charts the movement of self psychology toward a postmodern sensibility.Contributors reappraise intersubjectivity theory as a contextualist treatment approach consistent with dynamic systems theory (G. Trop, Burke, & J. Trop); return to Kohut's concept of selfobject relationships, with special attention to the separate subjective and intersubjective components of selfobject experiences (Tonnesvang); and develop one of Kohut's early ideas into a theory of "forward edge" transferences that strengthen normal self development (M. Tolpin).In all, Volume 18 is a richly insightful progress report on the current status of self psychology and a fitting capstone to Arnold Goldberg's distinguished tenure as editor of the Progress in Self Psychology series.Goldberg, Arnold is the author of 'Postmodern Self Psychology' with ISBN 9780881633658 and ISBN 0881633658.