Disorders of the Self

In this thought-provoking book, Marshall L. Silverstein applies a self psychological viewpoint, as formulated and broadened by Kohut, to understanding the personality disorders designated on Axis II of the DSM-IV. He recasts the disorders as disorders of the self, grouping them into one of three patterns: those that center on combating devitalization, forestalling fragmentation, or seeking alternative pathways to a cohesive self. For each group, he outlines the descriptive psychopathology and main theoretical viewpoints and then presents a self psychological reformulation of how the behavior and symptom patterns represent deficits in self-cohesion. The author's aim is to demonstrate how psychoanalytic self psychology, as originally developed by Heinz Kohut and further elaborated by colleagues, can explain personality disorders. He addresses both theoretical and clinical aspects of what are characterized as disturbances of the self.