Self-Hatred in Psychoanalysis: Detoxifying the Persecutory Object PDF
Preview Self-Hatred in Psychoanalysis: Detoxifying the Persecutory Object
Self Hatred in Psychoanalysis Detoxifying the Persecutory Object The persecutory object is the element of the personality which attacks yourconfidence,productivity,andacceptanceofrealitytothepointof no return. Persecuted patients torture themselves, hurt their loved ones, and torment their therapists. In this book, the authors integrate object relations and Kleinian theoriesintheirwayofworkingwithtenaciouspersecutoryobjectsand persecutory states of mind. This is vividly illustrated in a variety of situations, including: • individual, couple, and group therapy • serious paediatric illness • working with persecutory aspects of family business. Itisarguedthatthepersecutoryobjectcanbecontained,modified,and in many cases detoxified by the process of skilful intensive psycho- therapy and psychoanalysis. Self Hatred in Psychoanalysis: Detoxifying the Persecutory Object will be invaluable to a variety of practitioners including psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, social workers, psychiatrists, and mental health counsellors. Jill Savege Scharff is Co-Director of the International Institute of ObjectRelationsTherapy,ChevyChase,Maryland,Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University, and Teaching Analyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. She is in private practice in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Stanley A. Tsigounis is Executive Director of the Florida Institute for Object Relations Therapy and is on the core faculty of the Inter- national Institute of Object Relations Therapy in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice in both Sarasota and Tampa, Florida. This page intentionally left blank Self Hatred in Psychoanalysis Detoxifying the Persecutory Object Edited by Jill Savege Scharff and Stanley A. Tsigounis First published 2003 by Routledge 27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 71 I Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an in forma business © 2003 Selection and editorial matter, Jill Savege Scharff and Stanley A. Tsigounis; individual chapters, the contributors. Cover design by Terry Foley, Anu Design Typeset in Times by Mayhew Typesetting, Rhayader, Powys All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Self hatred in psychoanalysis : detoxifying the persecutory object / edited by Jill Savege Scharff and Stanley A. Tsigounis. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-58391-926-0 (hbk) - ISBN 1-58391-925-2 (pbk.) 1. Self-acceptance. 2. Psychoanalysis. 3. Self-hate (Psychology) I. Scharff, Jill Savege. II. Tsigounis, Stanley A., 1950- RC489.S43 S44 2002 616.89'17-dc21 2002066741 ISBN13: 978-1-58391-926-2 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-1-58391-925-5 (pbk) ISBN10: 1-58391-926-0 (hbk) ISBN10: 1-58391-925-2 (pbk) Contents List of contributors xi Acknowledgements xiv Preface xv PART 1 The theory of persecutory states of mind 1 1 Introduction to the persecutory object 3 STANLEY A. TSIGOUNIS,PhD ANDJILL SAVEGE SCHARFF,MD What is a persecutory object? 3 How does the persecutory object form? 3 Where did concepts of persecutory projections originate? 4 Why do parents feel persecuted and hateful? 10 How does the persecutory object exert its effect? 14 Love and hate 19 References 20 2 Sources of persecutory anxiety: Death instinct or bad objects? 23 JILL SAVEGE SCHARFF,MD Freud’s concept of the death instinct 24 The Kleinian elaboration of the death instinct 26 Ethological arguments against the death instinct 28 Freudians and Kleinians opposing or revising the death instinct 29 Fairbairn’s alternative: The tie to the bad object 29 vi Contents A re-examination of some clinical examples in the literature 31 Currentclinicalexamplesfordiscussionofconcepts 33 Summary: The death constellation tied to the bad object 39 References 43 3 The interpersonal sexual tie to the traumatic object 47 DAVID E.SCHARFF,MD Sexuality, trauma, and the tie to the persecuting object 47 Persecutory dynamics in a couple 48 Contempt, self hatred, and sadomasochism 58 Shame and guilt in psychic organization of individuals and couples 65 The detoxifying power of couple therapy 67 References 68 4 Persecutory objects, guilt, and shame 69 CHARLES ASHBACH,PhD The agencies of regulation 69 Persecutory objects: A clinical vignette 72 Guilt and shame 75 Envy, masochism and aggression 81 The containment of shame in the countertransference 84 References 86 5 The noise of the persecutory object: Like a roof caving in 89 YOLANDA DE VARELA, MA The fear of breakdown 89 The opening phase: Breaking down in tears 90 The forty-ninth session: Fear of breaking apart 93 The fiftieth session: Breaking from the dead exciting object 98 Actions and locations of the persecutory object 101 References 102 Contents vii 6 Persecutory objects in the body of self and other in Munchausen by Proxy 103 KENT RAVENSCROFT,MD The dynamics of Munchausen by Proxy syndrome 103 The mother, her child, and the hospital staff 108 The gains of illness 111 Characteristics of the mothers 115 The transgenerational transmission of trauma 116 Using countertransference to detect and understand the problem 119 The weight of the persecutory object 122 References 123 PART 2 The practice of detoxifying persecutory objects in assessment, psychotherapy, and consultation 125 7 Working with murderous projection and internal mutilation 127 MICHAEL KAUFMAN,MA,LPC A woman who received murderous projections 127 The first session: Pressured and desperate 128 Persecutory objects in early dream material 130 Early containment of persecutory anxiety 132 Signs of transformation 134 Evidence of detoxification 136 Reclaiming the self from the violent object 141 References 143 8 Treating persecutory anxiety in an adolescent boy 145 LESLIE A.JOHNSON,PhD, LPC A boy with persecutory acoustic objects 146 First treatment phase: Controlling the threatening therapist 147 Second treatment phase: Waking up 148 Third treatment phase: Crisis of sleeplessness 149 Fourth treatment phase: Mapping the sounds of the persecutory object 151 viii Contents Fifth treatment phase: The fragmenting effect of sexual desire 154 Discussion 159 The aetiology of Marty’s persecutory object 159 The function of music in Marty’s psychic economy 161 Detoxifying the persecutory object 162 References 164 9 Containing anxiety with divorcing couples 165 CARL BAGNINI,CSW,BCD Clinical illustrations of divorcing couples 167 The persecutory challenge to the therapist 173 Loss and mourning in divorce 175 Hatred, splitting, and ambivalence in divorce 176 Working with the therapist’s self 177 References 178 10 Recovering from projections as a group co-therapist 179 HILARY HALL, MA, LMHC Object relations theory and group therapy 180 The development of the group tTransference to me 183 Work with my countertransference 185 The intensification of the transference 185 Re-evaluation of the countertransference 186 The turning point session 187 Recovery from the hated internal couple 190 References 191 11 Holding and containment during surgery for physical deformity 193 MARIANELA ALTAMIRANO,MEd The deformity as the locus of the bad object 193 Failure in our holding environment 194 The revised plan for holding and containment 196 The need for emotional attunement 198 Helping a boy brave surgery again 199 What we learned 203 References 204 Contents ix 12 Persecutory aspects of family business 205 MICHAEL STADTER, PhD Family dynamics and family businesses 206 Example: Com.com, a family fusiness 210 Interpretation in action 223 References 224 13 Detoxification possible and impossible 225 STANLEY A. TSIGOUNIS,PHD Limits on the patient’s healing 225 Limits on the therapist’s effectiveness 229 Summary 231 References 232 Index 233
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