| Abstract: | Envy is not an amorphous feeling and can be seen as consisting of four distinct dimensions, labeled identification, confrontive, redirecting, and medea. Just as we have to be aware of the traditional stages of psychosexual and psychosocial stages of development, we need to be alert as to what dimension of envy the patient may be experiencing at any given moment in psychotherapy. When these dimensions manifest themselves in therapy we find that each of them requires a different strategy by the therapist. Each dimension has its unique features and what is successful at one stage of treatment may be disastrous at another. If the therapist does not intervene at the beginning stages to prevent envy from increasing in intensity, there is a danger that the patient can slide into a stage in which effective therapy may be doomed. |
