SELF PSYCHOLOGY–INFORMED FAMILY THERAPY: INCREASING SELFOBJECT EXPERIENCE BETWEEN FAMILY MEMBERS—AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF PSYCHOANALYTIC TREATMENT OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

This paper applies basic tenets of contemporary self psychology to conjoint sessions with parents and children – a neglected topic in the psychoanalytic literature in general and the self psychology literature in particular. The author advocates for greater utilization of conjoint sessions in the psychoanalytic treatment of children and adolescents due to the modality’s unique contributions to promoting change. The concepts of selfobject experience and needs are applied to understanding what family members need and seek from each other and the various factors that can contribute to parent-child relationships going awry are highlighted. A treatment approach informed by self psychology is detailed, and the questions of when to do family sessions (or not) is discussed. A detailed transcript of a session with two adolescents and their parents, in which the teens and mother attempt to confront the father on his alcoholism, is presented and discussed to illustrate key points.

Keywords:

• family therapy
• psychoanalytic treatment of children and adolescents
• self psychology

Notes

¹ The last one, in 2006, was mine and merely a revision/reprint of my 2001paper.

² I am aware of the concerns about the term empathic immersion and do not mean to imply that it is ever possible to separate from our own subjectivity. However, for me the term captures my experience of trying to feel my way into the patient’s inner world and affective experience much better than any of the proposed alternatives.

³ Although everything reported is true to the spirit of what occurred, the case is an amalgam of two fairly similar cases in order to protect confidentiality. I did not think it appropriate to contact either family for consent years after their therapy had ended.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carla Leone

Carla Leone, Ph.D. is on the faculty of the Institute for Clinical Social Work in Chicago, and the founder and director of North Suburban Family Psychologists, a group private practice. She is an elected member of the international council of the International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology (IAPSP), co-founder and Chair of that organization's Couples Therapy Interest Group, and Co-Chair of its Membership Committee.  She has published several papers and chapters on the application of self psychology and related theories to couples and family therapy, and has presented nationally and internationally on these topics.