Abstract

AZEVEDO, Monia Karine  and  MELLO NETO, Gustavo Adolfo Ramos. Kohut's concept of the self. Rev. bras. psicanál [online]. 2018, vol.52, n.2, pp. 123-140. ISSN 0486-641X.

The purpose of this article is to expose and analyze the idea of self in Heinz Kohut's psychoanalytic psychology of the self. To this end, we shall explain the two phases of the conception of self that exist in his work - that is, self in the narrow sense, before 1975, and, after this time, self in the broad sense. We raise some issues and discuss Kohut's writings. In his theory, we conclude, there are two definitions of self: one is phenomenic, and the other is metapsychological. While the first remains relatively constant throughout Kohut's work, the metapsychological definition changes. When the self is conceived in a narrow sense, it is considered a content of mental levels or stages. After 1975, however, he sees the self as a superordinate structure, which does not depend on these levels or stages. Finally, Freud's metapsychological model becomes less important to Kohut, who breaks with the theory he calls classical.

Keywords : self; Kohut; narcissism.

        · abstract in Portuguese | Spanish | French     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )