Knowing Oneself From the Inside Out, Knowing Oneself From the Outside In

The conception of vicious and virtuous circles that is at the heart of the cyclical psychodynamic point of view originated in my efforts to integrate psychoanalytic ideas and methods with those of behavior therapy (later cognitive-behavioral therapy) and then, further, with systemic and experiential points of view (see Wachtel, 1997). It was a crucial conceptual tool in linking the traditional psychoanalytic focus on the “internal” world and the emphasis of behavior therapists (and, often, of systemic therapists as well) on what is often called the “external,” the influence of the environmental context and of the actual events that transpire in people’s lives.