ABSTRACT
The evolution of psychoanalytic theory has proceeded dramatically since A. Freud’s time, such that the master would hardly recognize what is practiced today under the name of “psychoanalysis.” The role of instincts in general and sexuality in particular have shifted from a central to a marginal focus. What is valued in a psychoanalyst has flipped from objectivity to subjectivity. The person who claims credit for introducing the term to psychology and the name most commonly associated with the term is that of Robert Stolorow who comes out of a Kohutian, Self Psychology tradition. Aron Beck’s theory, for example, is simple, elegant, and easily understood: psychopathology is the result of “cognitive distortions”. Freud’s original theory was as simple and elegant as any: the psychoneuroses arise out of an excess of repression. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
