ABSTRACT
Concepts such as the vertical split, cross modal empathic attunement, fear of re-traumatization, the “forward edge,” disruption and repair all help the self psychology therapist address the various deficits patients have and need to work through during the course of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. For the most part, psychotherapists and psychoanalysts, like us, have come to the ideas of self psychology after having been schooled in theories of classical Freudian, object relations, interpersonal/relational or ego psychological theories. A remarkable convergence of discoveries from infant observation researchers has opened the door for a better understanding of the infrastructure of empathy and the subjective experiences of others. Freud himself was very interested in psychosis and a whole group of analysts splintered off from mainstream psychoanalytic ways of working to bring their insights to bear on those with hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorders.
