Table Of ContentSelf Hatred in Psychoanalysis
Detoxifying the Persecutory Object
The persecutory object is the element of the personality which attacks
yourconfidence,productivity,andacceptanceofrealitytothepointof
no return. Persecuted patients torture themselves, hurt their loved
ones, and torment their therapists.
In this book, the authors integrate object relations and Kleinian
theoriesintheirwayofworkingwithtenaciouspersecutoryobjectsand
persecutory states of mind. This is vividly illustrated in a variety of
situations, including:
• individual, couple, and group therapy
• serious paediatric illness
• working with persecutory aspects of family business.
Itisarguedthatthepersecutoryobjectcanbecontained,modified,and
in many cases detoxified by the process of skilful intensive psycho-
therapy and psychoanalysis.
Self Hatred in Psychoanalysis: Detoxifying the Persecutory Object will
be invaluable to a variety of practitioners including psychoanalysts,
psychotherapists, social workers, psychiatrists, and mental health
counsellors.
Jill Savege Scharff is Co-Director of the International Institute of
ObjectRelationsTherapy,ChevyChase,Maryland,Clinical Professor
of Psychiatry at Georgetown University, and Teaching Analyst at the
Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. She is in private practice in
Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Stanley A. Tsigounis is Executive Director of the Florida Institute for
Object Relations Therapy and is on the core faculty of the Inter-
national Institute of Object Relations Therapy in Chevy Chase,
Maryland. He is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice in both
Sarasota and Tampa, Florida.
This page intentionally left blank
Self Hatred in
Psychoanalysis
Detoxifying the Persecutory Object
Edited by Jill Savege Scharff
and Stanley A. Tsigounis
First published 2003 by Routledge
27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
71 I Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an in forma business
© 2003 Selection and editorial matter, Jill Savege Scharff and
Stanley A. Tsigounis; individual chapters, the contributors.
Cover design by Terry Foley, Anu Design
Typeset in Times by Mayhew Typesetting, Rhayader, Powys
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Self hatred in psychoanalysis : detoxifying the persecutory object / edited
by Jill Savege Scharff and Stanley A. Tsigounis.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-58391-926-0 (hbk) - ISBN 1-58391-925-2 (pbk.)
1. Self-acceptance. 2. Psychoanalysis. 3. Self-hate (Psychology)
I. Scharff, Jill Savege. II. Tsigounis, Stanley A., 1950-
RC489.S43 S44 2002
616.89'17-dc21
2002066741
ISBN13: 978-1-58391-926-2 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-1-58391-925-5 (pbk)
ISBN10: 1-58391-926-0 (hbk)
ISBN10: 1-58391-925-2 (pbk)
Contents
List of contributors xi
Acknowledgements xiv
Preface xv
PART 1
The theory of persecutory states of mind 1
1 Introduction to the persecutory object 3
STANLEY A. TSIGOUNIS,PhD ANDJILL SAVEGE SCHARFF,MD
What is a persecutory object? 3
How does the persecutory object form? 3
Where did concepts of persecutory projections
originate? 4
Why do parents feel persecuted and hateful? 10
How does the persecutory object exert its effect? 14
Love and hate 19
References 20
2 Sources of persecutory anxiety: Death instinct or
bad objects? 23
JILL SAVEGE SCHARFF,MD
Freud’s concept of the death instinct 24
The Kleinian elaboration of the death instinct 26
Ethological arguments against the death instinct 28
Freudians and Kleinians opposing or revising the
death instinct 29
Fairbairn’s alternative: The tie to the bad object 29
vi Contents
A re-examination of some clinical examples in the
literature 31
Currentclinicalexamplesfordiscussionofconcepts 33
Summary: The death constellation tied to the bad
object 39
References 43
3 The interpersonal sexual tie to the traumatic object 47
DAVID E.SCHARFF,MD
Sexuality, trauma, and the tie to the persecuting
object 47
Persecutory dynamics in a couple 48
Contempt, self hatred, and sadomasochism 58
Shame and guilt in psychic organization of
individuals and couples 65
The detoxifying power of couple therapy 67
References 68
4 Persecutory objects, guilt, and shame 69
CHARLES ASHBACH,PhD
The agencies of regulation 69
Persecutory objects: A clinical vignette 72
Guilt and shame 75
Envy, masochism and aggression 81
The containment of shame in the
countertransference 84
References 86
5 The noise of the persecutory object: Like a roof
caving in 89
YOLANDA DE VARELA, MA
The fear of breakdown 89
The opening phase: Breaking down in tears 90
The forty-ninth session: Fear of breaking apart 93
The fiftieth session: Breaking from the dead
exciting object 98
Actions and locations of the persecutory
object 101
References 102
Contents vii
6 Persecutory objects in the body of self and other in
Munchausen by Proxy 103
KENT RAVENSCROFT,MD
The dynamics of Munchausen by Proxy syndrome 103
The mother, her child, and the hospital staff 108
The gains of illness 111
Characteristics of the mothers 115
The transgenerational transmission of trauma 116
Using countertransference to detect and understand the
problem 119
The weight of the persecutory object 122
References 123
PART 2
The practice of detoxifying persecutory objects
in assessment, psychotherapy, and consultation 125
7 Working with murderous projection and internal
mutilation 127
MICHAEL KAUFMAN,MA,LPC
A woman who received murderous projections 127
The first session: Pressured and desperate 128
Persecutory objects in early dream material 130
Early containment of persecutory anxiety 132
Signs of transformation 134
Evidence of detoxification 136
Reclaiming the self from the violent object 141
References 143
8 Treating persecutory anxiety in an adolescent boy 145
LESLIE A.JOHNSON,PhD, LPC
A boy with persecutory acoustic objects 146
First treatment phase: Controlling the threatening
therapist 147
Second treatment phase: Waking up 148
Third treatment phase: Crisis of sleeplessness 149
Fourth treatment phase: Mapping the sounds of the
persecutory object 151
viii Contents
Fifth treatment phase: The fragmenting effect of sexual
desire 154
Discussion 159
The aetiology of Marty’s persecutory object 159
The function of music in Marty’s psychic economy 161
Detoxifying the persecutory object 162
References 164
9 Containing anxiety with divorcing couples 165
CARL BAGNINI,CSW,BCD
Clinical illustrations of divorcing couples 167
The persecutory challenge to the therapist 173
Loss and mourning in divorce 175
Hatred, splitting, and ambivalence in divorce 176
Working with the therapist’s self 177
References 178
10 Recovering from projections as a group co-therapist 179
HILARY HALL, MA, LMHC
Object relations theory and group therapy 180
The development of the group tTransference to me 183
Work with my countertransference 185
The intensification of the transference 185
Re-evaluation of the countertransference 186
The turning point session 187
Recovery from the hated internal couple 190
References 191
11 Holding and containment during surgery for physical
deformity 193
MARIANELA ALTAMIRANO,MEd
The deformity as the locus of the bad object 193
Failure in our holding environment 194
The revised plan for holding and containment 196
The need for emotional attunement 198
Helping a boy brave surgery again 199
What we learned 203
References 204
Contents ix
12 Persecutory aspects of family business 205
MICHAEL STADTER, PhD
Family dynamics and family businesses 206
Example: Com.com, a family fusiness 210
Interpretation in action 223
References 224
13 Detoxification possible and impossible 225
STANLEY A. TSIGOUNIS,PHD
Limits on the patient’s healing 225
Limits on the therapist’s effectiveness 229
Summary 231
References 232
Index 233
