Outsiderness in Human Nature

Abstract

Outsiderness, the sense of self as outside the world of others, is an early factor influential in developing both the sense of self and the regard for others and otherness. After definition and discussion of the appearance of this force at different stages of life, a case illustration is offered. Clinical analysis is then viewed closely to explore how dynamics involved in mastering the sense of outsiderness may be essential to the analytic process.

• Detachment
• otherness
• outsiderness
• life stages
• adolescence
• aging
• analytic process
• respect
• Shakespeare
• empathy
• analyst’s “acts of freedom”
• curiosity