Ethnotherapeutic empathy (EthE)—Part I: Definition,theory, and process

This paper introduces the concept of ethnotherapeutic empathyin working with ethnoculturally different patients to increase the efficacy of therapy. This form of empathy is used instrumentally to get to know the patient's inner problematic images, anxieties, fears, depressive affect, suffering, hurt, disillusionment, rage, joy, and triumph. Clinical empathy with ethnic patients is instrumental in that it is purposive:it sets out to achieve what might be called patient-comprehending(that is, finding out the nature of the patient's problems) using this as guide to intervening—a form of creativity-in-action. Ethnotherapeutic empathy utilizes active ego processes, in contrast to the passive processes implied in artistic appreciation and surrender. This article presents the definitions of empathy, and associated intrapsychic and social factors, as well as physiological responses in empathie responding. The implications for clinical practice with patients of differing ethnocultural and racial groups are discussed. The article develops a foundation for understanding the therapeutic matrix of applied ethnotherapeutic empathy which is detailed in the second part of this article (Ethnotherapeutic Empathy [EthE]—Part II: Techniques of Vicarious experiencing Across Cultures).     

On psychotic transference and countertransference

Following a brief discussion of the primary types of psychotic transferences, viewed from a theoretical position combining ego psychology with an object relations approach, the author presents detailed clinical material illustrating these transferences. The analyst's countertransference in work with such patients is also discussed in depth, including its use as a unique window into the patient's inner world.     

The Planning of Change: Readings in the Applied Behavioral Sciences by Warren G. Bennis,Kenneth D. Benne,and Robert Chin

This paper explains the concept of di-egophrenia and contrasts the dynamics of and treatment approach for di-egophrenics with those advocated for borderlines. The essential difference between the two is that the former functions with an introjected parental pseudo-ego and a submerged ego, while the latter suffers from a split ego. Ambivalence is described as the central feature of the di-egophrenic. Treatment of the di-egopltrenic is then detailed, with psychoanalysis in groups recommended as a treatment adjunct of particular value along with the alternate session. An experimental group solely composed of di-egophrenics is described and outcomes for members of this group are discussed.     

PATHWAYS OF PLEASURE

This article describes a mode of transference relationship in which the analysand has to contend with a psychic mobilisation that results from exchanges with the analyst-object and is related to the activation of pleasure in his/her own mental functioning. The patient's ego feels the internal and external excitations that stem from this mobilisation to be dangerous because of the anxieties about threatening intrusions that they raise. These anxieties arise along the contours of narcissistic flaws that give resonance to early traumatic experiences. The ego protects itself from the danger by organising narcissistic defences that oppose the impulses towards the analyst-object and foster a stagnation of the psychic work. The author puts forward the hypothesis that the patient's ego, not tolerating exposure to drive-related dangers, retracts into a mode of primary anality that is imprisoning and restrictive, setting up a fantasy of narcissistic nidification in which a part of the ego merges with an omnipotent primary object. The purpose of this strategy is to neutralise the excitations - as far as possible - while nevertheless maintaining the element of the drive excitation that forms the basis of the fantasy. The dynamics and the economy of the defensive organisation are examined in detail, as are the questions that these raise. A clinical case illustration is presented.     

Comment on “The Angry Patient”

This article formulates the main problem of the angry patient treated by Dr. Curtis as one of poor ego functioning. This is possibly of neuropsychological origin. Treatment would be training to strengthen ego functions and the patient–therapist relationship would be task oriented. The anger is not dealt with directly except as it interferes with the training. It is predicted that as the ego becomes stronger, the anger will become more controllable. There is some question of whether this patient would be able to cooperate with such a program.     

Structural Determinist Aspects of Depression in Freud's “Mourning and Melancholia”

This article examines Freud's theory of depression based on his paper “Mourning and Melancholia” from the structural determinist paradigm. The reality of depression lies in the underlying structure of the mind in which Freud's libidinal drives and topographical structure of mind bring forth conflicts in relation to an object. Freud delves into the fundamental causes of depression and points out that loss of object, regression of libido into the ego, and ambivalence cause hidden conflicts, which manifest themselves as depressive symptoms and feelings. William Styron's Darkness Visible is used to illustrate its relevance to the structural determinist aspects of Freud's psychoanalytic theory of depression.     

The Development of the Concept of Concrete Subjectivity from Kant to Neo-Kantianism

One long-running conundrum in Husserlian phenomenology revolves around the question of the identity of what Husserl calls the transcendental ego, a mysterious figure that he identifies as the subject of a genuinely transcendental phenomenology. In dialogue with both Husserl and his assistant and collaborator Eugen Fink (as well as recent commentary), I attempt in this article to give a solid account of the identity of this transcendental ego, and in particular to explain the connection between this figure and the empirical ego of the individual phenomenologist. I make particular reference to Fink's depiction of a "personal union" between these two egos in his Sixth Cartesian Meditation and to certain unclear hints in Husserl's 1923/1924 lectures on First Philosophy. Ultimately, I develop my own account of such a union, which explains the transcendental ego as a certain mode in which the phenomenologist might investigate his own experiences. On this basis, I argue, the status of phenomenology as a transcendental discipline can be understood without subjecting that discipline to certain criticisms that have been levelled against it.     

The observing ego as voyeur

A resistance to self-observation and self-reflection is discussed in which there is a perversion of the observing ego. The observing ego has been unconsciously recruited in the service of enacting an unconscious fantasy: the fantasy of being an excited observer of a primal scene who is punished for making forbidden observations. This voyeuristic observing ego is pathologically enmeshed in a love triangle with the patient's seductive superego (i.e. identification with the desired but unfaithful parent) and with the patient's punitive superego (i.e. identification with the rivalrous parent). This unconscious scenario is played out in the clinical situation as the patient unreflectively cycles through phases of denial (i.e. self-seduction) and moral masochism (i.e. self-betrayal). A case study illustrates how humor may be employed to free the observing ego from being enthralled by a perverse superego. Humor may unconsciously enable a rebellious attitude toward the omnipotent sadism of a perversely oppressive superego and thus enable the observing ego to break free from its pathological enmeshment.     

Delay of Gratification,Psychopathology, and Personality: Is Low Self-Control Specific to Externaiizing Problems?

We assessed the delay of gratification behavior of 428 twelve and thirteen-year-old boys, half of whom were known to manifest symptoms of behavioral disturbance. Consistent with the hypothesis that low self-control is a risk factor specific to externalizing (aggressive and delinquent) disorders, boys who showed signs of externalizing disorders tended to seek immediate gratification in a laboratory task more often than both nondisordered boys and boys who showed signs of internalizing (anxious and depressed) disorders. In addition, children who were able to delay immediate gratification were described by their mothers as ego controlled, ego resilient, conscientious, open to experience, and agreeable. These results suggest that poor delay of gratification may be one of a select number of specific risk factors for externalizing     

Group Psychotherapy With Ego Impaired Children: The Significance of Peer Group Culture in the Evolution of a Holding Environment

In this paper, we will attempt to delineate the process by which peer group culture emerges and develops among groups of ego impaired children. The process of culture building in groups, as will be illustrated in a detailed case presentation, is critical for the child's development of skills for structuring and ordering the internal and external worlds. By definition, ego impaired children lack the ability to organize their internal experience. The challenge of group treatment with these children is to provide a situation in which their maladaptive efforts to organize volatile affects and impulses can be tolerated and structured. If they are provided with an adequate holding environment, the children learn to create cultural structures (i.e., therapeutic group culture), for the representation of salient aspects of their emotional lives creates the basis for internal organization. Their growing capacity to build integrating structures, at first collectively within the group, (Pfeifer and Weinstock-Savoy, 1984), which previously could only be provided by the therapist functioning as an auxiliary ego.     

Revisiting Ego Depletion: Moderators and Measurement

We developed and validated two web-based tasks to induce and measure ego depletion in two online experiments (N?=?122 and N?=?788). Ego depletion describes the phenomenon that exerting self-control temporarily reduces people’s capacity to subsequently control themselves. To induce ego depletion, we adapted the e-crossing task, and to measure ego depletion, we adapted the color Stroop task. We successfully induced ego depletion. Participants’ implicit theories about willpower as well as their mood moderated ego depletion. We also discuss several methodological issues and compare different approaches of measuring ego depletion using aggregated reaction times.     

恶的想象力

Sartre’s “transcendence of the ego” means that consciousness is outside of the ego, that the ego is the “ego of the other”, and that the other is neither in consciousness nor in the ego. Sartre viewed “reflection” as a pure mood rather than as the substantial carrier of mood. The strangeness and absurdity of the world emerge from this reflection. Sartre’s “imagination of the evil” has two aspects. On the one hand, “evil” corresponds to the concept of the other, transcending the capacity for domination of the ego; on the other hand, imagination is related to the other in a broad sense, with the ability to transform “philistinism” and “evil” into marvels.     

Attachment,temperament, and ego development in young adulthood

Attachment and temperament have each been thought to contribute to personality development; however, few empirical studies have examined the relations between the two. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate, in young adulthood, the relations among attachment, temperament, and two aspects of ego development, namely,overall ego development and ego development with respect tointimacy. One hundred and seven college students served as participants. Sixty one percent classified themselves as securely attached and 39% as insecurely attached. A factor analysis of the Emotionality-Activity-Sociability (EAS) Temperament Survey for Adults yielded a primary factor (labeled negative emotionality) that accounted for 41% of the variance. A regression analysis then revealed that both attachment status and temperament predicted overall ego development; however, only attachment status predicted ego development with respect to intimacy. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Listening to the adolescent therapy group

This article reviews traditional psychodynamic views of listening to the manifest and latent content of the patient's communication. It then reviews the literature on the application of such listening in group treatment. The particular application of such listening and intervention in groups for adolescents with significant ego deficits is explored.     

The ego in Lucy R: notes on conflict in one of Freud's first cases

This paper focuses on Freud's discussion of the case of 'Lucy R' presented in Studies on Hysteria (Breuer and Freud, 1895). It is possible to see here a notion of the 'ego' being employed by Freud many years before the 1920 'turning point' in his work, and an account of the ego as a 'dominant mass of ideas' is used to explain how psychical conflicts for his patient are transformed into physical symptoms. The image of the ego defending itself against an 'incompatible' idea structures Freud's own account, and it also structures recent critical commentaries on Freud's work from within feminist writing and studies of rhetoric. Some consequences for present-day psychodynamic practice are reviewed in the course of the discussion.     

A new perspective on agitated grief reactions

This paper suggests a psychodynamic formulation to promote further understanding of patients manifesting symptoms commonly referred to as agitated grief, or agitated depression. This condition is associated primarily with the death of a parent. Insufficiently separated identity, regressive processes of identification, and AA-pseudo-autonomy are identified as significant contributors to this condition. Most significantly, an unconscious fantasy of imminent death to befall the symbiotic survivor is identified as precipitating the panic, terror, and moderate-severe disorganization of ego functions which differentiates agitated grief from bereavement or other forms of depressive reactions. During the crisis stage the therapist's informed presence can provide the patient with a stable secondary reference point. This element of the therapeutic relationship can lead to a pronounced diminution of anxiety, halt further ego disorganization and promote improved coherence of ego functions. Given this stabilization, the unconscious fantasy of imminent death can be introduced to the patient's consciousness thus obviating its pathological effects.     

Reciprocal Relations Between Emotional Self‐Efficacy Beliefs and Ego‐Resiliency Across Time

The present study examined the longitudinal relations of adolescents' self‐reported ego‐resiliency to their emotional self‐efficacy beliefs in expressing positive emotions and in managing negative emotions as they moved into early adulthood. Participants were 239 females and 211 males with a mean age of 17 years (SD = .80) at T1, 19 years (SD = .80) at T2, 21 years (SD = .82) at T3, and 25 years (SD = .80) at T4. A four‐wave cross‐lagged regression model and mediational analyses were used. In a panel structural equation model controlling for the stability of the constructs, reciprocal relationships across time were found between ego‐resiliency and emotional self‐efficacy beliefs related to the expression of positive emotions and to the management of negative emotions. Moreover, the relation between ego‐resiliency assessed at T1 and T3, and ego‐resiliency assessed at T2 and T4, was mediated through emotional self‐efficacy beliefs (at T2 and T3, respectively), and vice versa. The posited conceptual model accounted for a significant portion of variance in ego‐resiliency and has implications for understanding the development of ego‐resiliency.     

Aspects of the analysis of an adult son of deaf-mute parents

This case demonstrates unique features connected with the parental deafness: the patient's anger toward women, his splitting of objects into all-good and all-bad, ease of regression, yearning for the symbiotic mother particularly as it was related to space as a transitional phenomenon into which he brooked no intrusion, his unique interests and creativity, his method of teaching, the shaping of the Oedipus complex by preoedipal trauma, and his feeling of entitlement with need to be treated as an exception. I have attempted to demonstrate the relation of the preverbal and preoedipal traumata, stemming from the deaf-mutism of the parents of a hearing child, to the patient's pathology, the shaping of his oedipal constellation, and character traits. I have described the compensatory ego functions that resulted in the development of creative, professional ability. Also, I have tried to demonstrate the complicated multiple overdetermination of his symptoms and aspects of his character formation.     

The ego according to Klein: return to Freud and beyond

This paper explores fundamental dimensions of Melanie Klein's concept of the ego through a detailed study of the writings of Klein and her early colleagues (Paula Heimann, Susan Isaacs and Joan Riviere). The study examines three central issues: (a) the basic theoretical framework for Klein's conceptualization of the ego, and specifically how her conceptualization builds on Freud's structural and dual instinct models; (b) the processes involved in the development of the ego and its capacities (including the development from id to ego and from ego to superego); and (c) the view of the ego as an object of phantasy. Through this examination, the study demonstrates that Klein's conceptualization of the ego is firmly grounded both in Freud's formulations about the ego and in his theoretical and metapsychological approach to thinking about the ego. This counters the prevalent view that Klein was only focused on clinical understandings, unconcerned with theory and fuzzy in her abstract thinking. More specifically, it counters the view that Klein did not really have a concept of the ego in any well-structured sense of the term (Britton, 2003; Hinshelwood, 1994; Segal, 2001). The study considers the sources of these misconceived views. Finally, it argues that discarding such views allows us to appreciate better the richness of Klein's thinking, her theoretical affinities to Freud, and the role of theory in the development and justification of psychoanalysis.