Kohut's Self Psychology

• Kohut's self psychology centers on the self as the core of psychological motivation, organization, and change in personality.
• Psychological damage to the self leads to psychopathology.

Key Theories

• Objects-Relations Theory: Human development hinges on the quality of relationships, especially between parents and children.
• Self-objects: They are representations of people who are psychologically important and help in coping and problem-solving.

Personality Development

• Primary Narcissism: It is the initial state of well-being where an infant's needs are gratified, leading to a sense of oceanic perfection and bliss.
• Grandiose Self: It represents a primitive view of oneself as great, that includes the need to be mirrored and yearning for admiration and approval.
• Idealized Parental Image: Children view their parents as perfect, all-knowing, and all-powerful. Includes a need to idealize and seek security by identifying with powerful figures, like parents.
• Empathic Parents: Parents can understand and share the feelings of their child by assuming the perspective of the child.
• Optimal Frustrations: Non-traumatic frustrations of a person’s needs by parents, encouraging new learning and growth.
• Transmuting Internalizations: Individuals adopt realistic and effective ways of thinking and behaving through interactions with empathic parents.
• Nuclear Self: Foundation of personality is formed through empathic parenting,modifying individuals' unrealistic beliefs about themselves and caretakers.
• Cohesive Self: This type of personality is organized, healthy, and effective, which ensures that narcissistic energies are invested in realistic goals.
• Autonomous Self: It is the self of an individual with optimal mental health.

Impairments with Internalization of Self Objects

• Internalization of a "healthy self" is not possible without positive self-object experiences.
• Self-object failure can lead to shame, humiliation, and helplessness.
• True Self development is hindered if a child suppresses needs due to a perceived lack of self-object support.
• A person may comply with others' needs at the expense of their True Self development, creating a merger bond.
• Not bonding with a caregiver can lead to feelings of isolation and depression

Addressing Unmet Needs

• Without early narcissistic needs being met, a child/adult will continuously seek nurturing and validating self-object experiences.
• Strengthening the self through self-object responsiveness, like therapy, lessens shame about vulnerability and nurturing needs.
• There is a better ability to give to others emotionally without anxiety about their needs.

Disturbances to the Self

• Psychological damage to the self yields psychopathology.
• Psychosis involves a severe disturbance of the self where defenses fail to cover major defects.
• Borderline States: Damage to the self is permanent or protracted, with central defects covered by major defenses.
• Schizoid personality disorders are defective self structures that are protected by aloofness and superficial involvement.
• Paranoid personality disorders are deficiencies in self structures that are shielded by hostility and suspicion, to keep potentially harmful objects at bay.

Narcissistic Personality Disorders

• Understimulated self: Where individuals feel empty, bored, and depressed due to a lack of empathic mirroring and idealizing from parents.
• Fragmenting self: An uncoordinated person may also feel tired, mentally slow, and awkward after threatening experiences. _ Overstimulated self: Individuals were exposed to excessive stimulation in childhood, their fantasies of greatness were continually reinforced by unempathic caregivers.
• Overburdened self: It occurs when a person has not had an opportunity to merge with a calming self-object (usually a parent).
• Mirror-hungry personalities crave self-objects whose confirming and admiring responses will increase their feelings of self-worth.
• Ideal-hungry personalities only feel worthwhile when they can relate to admirable people.
• Alter-ego personalities feel worthwhile if they have a relationship with a self-object who looks, dresses, and shares similar opinions and values.
• Merger-hungry personalities experience others as their own self.
• Contact-shunning personalities long to merge with self-objects but are highly sensitive to rejection, leading them to avoid social contact.
• Narcissistic psychopathology stems from a parental lack of empathy during development.
• Individuals may not develop the capacity to regulate self-esteem.
• Narcissistic adults vacillate between irrational overestimation of self and inferiority, which results in reliance on others to regulate feelings of self-worth.
• Therapy redirects narcissistic energies from unrealistic self-structures to the nuclear self and ego.
• Therapists should empathically experience the patient's world (temporary indwelling) to foster understanding.

Development of the Healthy Self

• Autonomous Self: Includes attainment of optimal mental health.
• Individuals experience freedom from inhibitions which allows easier ability to act productively.