8. The Self and the Desire for Intimacy:
An Exploration Through the Lens of Attachment, Motivational Systems and Intersubjectivity Theory
Presenter: |
Allison Brownlow, Ph.D. |
Chair: |
Elizabeth Haverkampf, Dipl Psych |
Self Psychology Page | 22nd Conference Program
Summary
This paper proposes the complementary and sometimes convergent nature of three psychoanalytic developmental theories. It is argued that the therapeutic action of self psychology may be enriched by integrating selected concepts from attachment theory, motivational systems theory, and intersubjectivity theory. These concepts are examined and used to present a patient who would best be described as one with "false self" pathology. Although she could be creative and successful in work, and have many friends, she could never manage to find comfort in an intimate love relationship. It was clear to her that closeness engendered anxiety. The basis for her lived experience, however, eluded her for some time. The theories of self psychology that underscore the importance of empathic inquiry and the selfobject and repetitive transferences successfully guided the treatment. Knowledge of mirroring and idealizing transferences was essential to create a "holding environment" (Winnicott, 1960) in which the patient could begin to trust the analyst and reflectively engage in the illumination of previously unconscious organizing patterns. With the additional knowledge of self and motivational systems (Lichtenberg, Lachmann & Fosshage, 1992), the analyst could use sustained empathic inquiry to understand in a more refined way which goal directed motivation was dominant within a mutually designed context. Attachment theory is discussed to underscore Bowlby's (1969, 1973, 1980) concepts of internal working models and the intergenerational transmission of security/insecurity of attachment. Model scenes (Lachmann & Lichtenberg, 1992), originally described as occurring in the past, repeatedly crystallized in the analytic sessions and helped the patient clarify the repetitive action of these organizing patterns. The patient was then able to transcend the repetitive situations of her past by discovering new possibilities of relatedness to others.