In sum, signs of new hypothesis generation, creative utilization and integration of self-psychology with other lines of thought are apparent.
Evidence suggests that self-psychology's influence has permeated broadly in psychology.
This paper may be copied for personal or other non-commercial use, but may not be changed, cut or reprinted for any use whatsoever without the permission of the author and the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Review. Thanks, too, to Dr. Arnold Goldberg, editor of Progress in Self Psychology, who kindly conveyed a number of vital, factual corrections together with his kind comments on this paper. This article is drawn from a longer paper produced for PSYC 401, under the supervision of Paul Bakan. Since the turn of this century, psychoanalysis has been a major generator of theoretical and therapeutic models in clinical psychology's research and practice. This paper examines Kohut's core ideas and personal role, in their historical context, and further, examines whether his attempted paradigm shift has met with a matrix ready to receive it, whether it has proven to have lasting value, and whether it is generating new work today.