ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud’s theories that traced all forms of psychological disturbance to childhood events like the Oedipus complex left no place for the profoundly damaging effects of racial, religious, and other forms of discrimination. In the 1980s, a group of analysts at the Southern California Institute became interested in the new self-psychological theories of Heinz Kohut; they were dissatisfied with the effectiveness of classical psychoanalysis, despite their many years of experience. Self-psychology moved away from the Freudian focus on sources of pathology within the person, as typified by drive theory, and emphasized the patient’s early experiences of lack of emotional attunement at the hands of his or her parents. Jeffrey Masson, in his 1992 book, describes his training analysis at the Toronto Institute with a man who was arbitrary, domineering, and downright insulting at times, all within a system where he, as a candidate, could do nothing about the abuse he was forced to endure.
