The self psychology of Heinz Kohut has been an important force in contemporary psychoanalytic thought and its ramifications for therapy have been extensively explored. Now, Marshall Silverstein offers the first analysis of the application of self psychology to projective diagnostic assessment. Differentiating the self psychological approach from an ego psychological interpretation of classical drive theory, he clearly outlines the principal contributions of Kohut, including the concepts of selfobject functions, empathy, transmuting internalization, and compensatory structure. Providing numerous clinical examples, he shows how the major selfobject functions of mirroring, idealization, and twinship can be identified on projective tests. Silverstein then demonstrates how conventional assessment approaches to grandiosity, self-esteem, and idealization can be reconceptualized within the framework of self psychology, and he also contrasts ego psychological interpretations with self psychological interpretations. This book makes a strong case for the importance of the clinical identification of self states.It will help practitioners understand their patients' varied attempts to repair an injury to the self to restore self-esteem (compensatory structure) and the clinical consequences of self-disorders, including disintegration products such as narcissistic rage and affect states characterized by empty depression, chronic boredom, and lack of zest.

The self psychology of Heinz Kohut has been an important force in contemporary psychoanalytic thought and its ramifications for therapy have been extensively explored. Now, Marshall Silverstein offers the first analysis of the application of self psychology to projective diagnostic assessment. Differentiating the self psychological approach from an ego psychological interpretation of classical drive theory, he clearly outlines the principal contributions of Kohut, including the concepts of selfobject functions, empathy, transmuting internalization, and compensatory structure. Providing numerous clinical examples, he shows how the major selfobject functions of mirroring, idealization, and twinship can be identified on projective tests. Silverstein then demonstrates how conventional assessment approaches to grandiosity, self-esteem, and idealization can be reconceptualized within the framework of self psychology, and he also contrasts ego psychological interpretations with self psychological interpretations.
This book makes a strong case for the importance of the clinical identification of self states. It will help practitioners understand their patients' varied attempts to repair an injury to the self to restore self-esteem (compensatory structure) and the clinical consequences of self-disorders, including disintegration products such as narcissistic rage and affect states characterized by empty depression, chronic boredom, and lack of zest.

Comprised of five unique and extended case studies, Personality Assessment in Depth examines contemporary clinical problems that are familiar to clinicians, but have not been explored extensively in the personality assessment field. Each case study demonstrates the test protocols of the Rorschach test, Thematic Apperception Test, MMPI or MCMI, and Human Figure Drawings. Important clinical questions and areas of theoretical concern are examined, including differential diagnosis of disorders of affect and personality in light of contemporary viewpoints about these disturbances, personality and adaptation accompanying neuropsychological deficit, and stages of development, including differentiating these from personality characteristics viewed longitudinally, the latter demonstrated by a noteworthy comparison of two evaluations of the same patient, first as a 15-year-old adolescent and then as a 25-year-old adult. A battery of performance and self report personality instruments are applied to the cases, allowing the author to integrate findings across multiple tests and thereby expose clinical psychology students to personality assessment in a broad perspective. Cases are discussed comprehensively, relying on a thorough consideration of thematic content examined alongside formal test scores. Further, the Rorschach findings are examined using both the Exner Comprehensive System and the recently-introduced Rorschach Performance Assessment System approaches. The cases are considered using a broad psychodynamic framework for interpretation, employing classical ego psychology, object relations, and self psychological theoretical perspectives. This is an essential casebook for professionals and students, demonstrating the depth and richness of personality considered alongside the empirical foundations of personality assessment.