Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Discussion of “compulsive personality disorder”

Discussion of “compulsive personality disorder” Althea J. Homer Dr. Ingram has presented us with a thorough and scholarly review of the compulsive personality. With every major change in psychoanalytic theory, earlier ideas are reconceptualized with a new focus and a new emphasis. Each time we look at the elephant from a different perspective, we discover more about him, and gradually we come to know his complexity in ever greater detail. I'd like to present still another view of the beast, this time from the outside in. There are four levels of description that can be brought to bear in any clinical situation: (1) historical-a recounting of the significant events and relationships in the person's life; (2) observation of behavior-what we note about the individual's behavior in a variety of situations; (3) psychodynamic -the person's motives, fears, and defenses; and (4) structure. My own em- phasis is on the critical need to understand the character structure first, and then to interpret behavior and dynamics on the basis of that understanding. Why are early experiences (that is, historical events) reenacted over and over throughout life? Why do instinctual drives generate a particular pattern of affect and defense, a pattern that is repeated again and again-the dy- http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The American Journal of Psychoanalysis Springer Journals

Discussion of “compulsive personality disorder”

Horner, Althea J.
The American Journal of Psychoanalysis , Volume 42 (3): 7 – Sep 1, 1982
Download PDF
7 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/discussion-of-compulsive-personality-disorder-oVl2C4b3NY

References (10)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
1982 Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
ISSN
0002-9548
eISSN
1573-6741
DOI
10.1007/BF01253486
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Althea J. Homer Dr. Ingram has presented us with a thorough and scholarly review of the compulsive personality. With every major change in psychoanalytic theory, earlier ideas are reconceptualized with a new focus and a new emphasis. Each time we look at the elephant from a different perspective, we discover more about him, and gradually we come to know his complexity in ever greater detail. I'd like to present still another view of the beast, this time from the outside in. There are four levels of description that can be brought to bear in any clinical situation: (1) historical-a recounting of the significant events and relationships in the person's life; (2) observation of behavior-what we note about the individual's behavior in a variety of situations; (3) psychodynamic -the person's motives, fears, and defenses; and (4) structure. My own em- phasis is on the critical need to understand the character structure first, and then to interpret behavior and dynamics on the basis of that understanding. Why are early experiences (that is, historical events) reenacted over and over throughout life? Why do instinctual drives generate a particular pattern of affect and defense, a pattern that is repeated again and again-the dy-

Journal

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis – Springer Journals

Published: Sep 1, 1982

Keywords: Clinical Psychology; Psychotherapy; Psychoanalysis

There are no references for this article.