New Directions in Self Psychology

Since Heinz Kohut’s The Analysis of the Self was published in 1971, psychoanalytic Self Psychology has developed into a theory and mode of treatment which is complex and multi-dimensional as well as vital and still evolving. Enlisting authors from a variety of disciplines, and under the editorship of psychoanalyst and social worker George Hagman, the New Directions in Self Psychology: Clinical, Research and Cultural Applications book series will examine the state-of-the–art in Self Psychology, providing an opportunity for authors to explore and extend the model in new directions. 

Once limited to a small group centered in Chicago, Self Psychology currently has adherent organizations on every continent. Over the past half century, Self Psychology has influenced academic disciplines such as history, political science, art history, and social theory, as well as psychological research into child development, neuropsychology, addiction and psychopathology. Its influence on psychotherapy has been enormous, with many analytic and non-analytic models benefiting from its concepts such as motivational interviewing, grief therapies, addiction treatments, and person-centered counseling. Most importantly, Self Psychology has continued to thrive in the field of psychoanalysis, being elaborated and augmented by the contribution of many subspecialties such as motivational systems theory, Intersubjectivity theory, relational psychoanalysis, systems theory and complexity.

The volumes in this series will be devoted to a variety of topics including, but not limited to, couple’s treatment, addiction, depression and bereavement, intersubjective Self Psychology, adolescence, infant research, Relational Self Psychology, culture and historical theory. Specific clinical subjects will be highlighted such as the selfobject transference, rethinking resistance, new understandings of empathy, neuro-psychoanalysis, relationality, trauma, and grief. The editor invites contributions from across these areas of practice and the subject areas previously mentioned toward the promotion of vital culture of debate and experimentation in the field of Self Psychology.