Personality Structure and Human Interaction

Schizoid Phenomena, Object Relations and The Self. This book, which is based on a series of clinical studies of schizoid problems, is a sequel to Personality Structure and Human Interaction. In Part I, a description of the schizoid condition is given, in terms of relations to the external world, internal states of ego disintegration and, the core of the problem, the dissociated and lost emotional heart of the total self. Part II reviews the theoretical development which makes it necessary to see manic-depressive problems in the light of the deeper and more subtle schizoid condition. Part III. On "The Nature of Basic Ego-Weakness", seeks to assess fully the importance of Winnicott's research into the earliest beginnings of ego development, as the infant slowly grows into pschic separation from the mother, a process that involves both the opportunity for individuation and also the risk of loss of relationship, as well as the risk of possibly permanent stunting of ego development instead of growth of basic ego relatedness in the mentally healthy person.
Part VI explores the implications of psychotherapy of the study of the schizoid problem, particularly in the matter of the personal therapeutic relationship of therapist and patient. And finally, in Part V, the review of theory is brought up to date with a chapter on "The Concept of Psychodynamic Science" and another comparing the ego theories of Hartmann and the "object- relational" thinkers, Melanie Klein, Fairbairn, and Winnicott.