This collection of lectures is such a welcome change from his meticulously written texts. Kohut was a genius. This theories are brilliant - but his writing is complex, bordering on tangential. That's not a problem in this collection. Additionally, Kohut's theoretical explanation of self psychology is brought to life with many practical examples. In certain instances this text is like a "how-to" for the beginner and experienced to profit from. The most disturbing aspect of this work is how much longing it inspires. Those lucky advanced students got so much from a genius. They were priviledged to see his "real" and practical side. He let his guard down while filling their minds with the wisdom of his experience. You may find yourself wishing you were one of those lucky candidates at the Chicago Institute.

The authors write with precision and clarity. They explicate a complex topic systematically and render theoretical constructs immediately useful. Numerous clinical examples add clarity and life to the theoretical aspects of their presentation. This book is readable by practicing clinicians and by the interested non-professional. As a post-graduate lecturer and psychoanalytic supervisor, I have found this book to be an excellent introduction to Kohut's Self Psychology primarily due to the authors' ability to hold the readers interest, to make difficult concepts clear, and to stay close to Kohut's the original ideas. This book is also useful as a refesher for experienced practitioners and as a good prerequisite for more more advanced and / or specialized study.

fascinating stuff, some repetition (which is both good and bad - because this stuff is complex and i needed the repetition), though all a little dry... but the bottom line is, the stuff within is great. all about the development of narcissism, be it healthy or unhealthy, and what is healthy narcissism. describes how trauma in childhood (essentially improper love and care by parents or parental figures) constitutes a narcissistic injury to a child and impedes their healthy maturation, and how they get stuck in a certain infantile place, acting out their woundedness over and over and over again.

also talks about the recovery process through therapy, and different phases of recovery from disturbed narcissism.

all in all a fascinating book, though much technical terminology and complex explanations. i think this information could be made much more simplified and accessible, but, nevertheless, kohut and this stuff written about him is groundbreaking, so better that it's a little dry than not there at all!

A biography of Heinz Kohut who was at the center of the 20th century American psychoanalytic movement. After the Nazis took over Vienna he fled to Chicago, where he spent the rest of his life & is now remembered as the founder of "self psychology."

That said: you have got to have an appetite for exploration into the deep recesses of our psychology & the ways we live our lives.

This biography will appeal to those who have lived through the same era as Heinz Kohut & who have encountered the less authoritarian & more compassionate school of psychoanalysis now known as self-psychology which made major changes in reformatting the revered Freudian theory & practice.

A deep drink from an unusual well - well-written, if somewhat dense in places. Well worth it, however, if you are at all interested in the signs of intelligent life during America's post WWII years which led up to the human potential movement.

I'm amazed that I read it because my mind was boggled by the subject & the author! What did I learn? Zounds - it'll take me years to process a fraction of what has been brought to the surface!

Gary Greif's book provides an interesting introduction to Kohut's self-psychology. More importantly though, Greif's book is a critique of the fundamental psychological assumptions of modern liberal theorists from Hobbes to Mill (with further critiques of Nietsche and Freud along the way). Greif uses Kohut's psychological insights to criticize the liberal assumption that human beings are essentially egoistic and aggressive. He argues that our violent tendencies result from the structural paradigms of liberal-capitalism. It is the "morality" of liberal-capitalism that makes us aggressive and egoistic as our selfobject needs remain unfulfilled and we collapse into fragmented selves. This is an important thesis and Greif argues for it clearly and persuasively. The only drawback to Greif's book is that it ends with the tragic situation of fragmented selves struggling within a nihilistic cultural setting. He mentions the possibiltiy of hope in the last chapter but we are left wondering how to transform society to make room for empathy and a culture in which self-fulfillment can occur. All in all a very readable introduction to Kohut that contains a very important critique of liberalism.