This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Rubovits-Seitz, P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rubovits-Seitz, P. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Kohut's Method of Interpretation: A Critique

To cope with the obscure, complexly overdetermined, and unstable nature of unconscious meanings, Freud developed a pluralistic methodology that employs a wide variety of interpretive strategies and procedures. Conversely, Kohut proposed a radically abbreviated interpretive approach based on the single, subjective method of empathy. This report reevaluates Kohut's monistic interpretive methodology: (1) The principal features of Kohut's interpretive method are reviewed and evaluated. (2) Case material and interpretations from Kohut's final book are used to compare his unidimensional approach with the pluralistic methodology of traditional interpretation. (3) The epistemologic liabilities of Kohut's interpretive method are delineated and discussed. (4) Methodologically more appropriate strategies for improving clinical interpretation are presented.

Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Vol. 36, No. 4, 933-959 (1988)
DOI: 10.1177/000306518803600404


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?