The Transformational Self: Attachment and the End of the Adolescent Phase

264 Pages·2013·0.76 MB·English

by  Harold K. Bendicsen

CHAPTERTITLE I
THE TRANSFORMATIONAL SELF

THE
TRANSFORMATIONAL
SELF
Attachment and the End of
the Adolescent Phase
Harold K. Bendicsen
First published in 2013 by
Karnac Books Ltd
118 Finchley Road, London NW3 5HT
Copyright © 2013 to Harold K. Bendicsen.
The right of Harold K. Bendicsen to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with §§ 77 and 78 of the Copyright Design
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A C.I.P. for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78049-142-4
Edited, designed and produced by The Studio Publishing Services Ltd
www.publishingservicesuk.co.uk
e-mail: [email protected]
Printed in Great Britain
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
ABOUT THE AUTHOR xi
PREFACE xiii
INTRODUCTION xvii
PART I: CONTEXT AND PROBLEM FORMULATION
CHAPTER ONE
Introductory considerations 3
CHAPTER TWO
Theoretical considerations 11
PART II: THE NATURE OF THE TRANSFORMATIONAL SELF
INTRODUCTIONTOPARTII 25
CHAPTERTHREE
The transformational self in adolescence 27
After notes to Chapters Two and Three 47
CHAPTER FOUR
Classification of transformational selves 53
CHAPTER FIVE
Locating the transformational self within the larger
self system 59
After notes to Chapter Five 71
v
vi CONTENTS
PART III: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNDERSTANDING
OF THE TRANSFORMATIONAL SELF
INTRODUCTIONTO PARTIII 77
CHAPTER SIX
The contribution from the linguistic theory of metaphor 79
CHAPTER SEVEN
The contribution from attachment theory 89
CHAPTER EIGHT
The contribution from neurobiology 99
After notes to Chapter Eight 117
CHAPTER NINE
The contribution from non-linear dynamic systems theory 121
CHAPTER TEN
The contribution from cognition 133
PART IV: THE APPEARANCE OF THE TRANSFORMATIONAL
SELF IN TWO CASES
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Two psychotherapies 151
PART V: SYNOPSIS
CHAPTER TWELVE
The transformational self: gateway to young adulthood 175
APPENDIXONE
Comparing and contrasting ego psychology with
self-psychology 199
APPENDIXTWO
Modern and postmodern philosophical paradigms in
clinical social work from a developmental model perspective 203
REFERENCES 209
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 229
INDEX 233
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank early readers Joseph Walsh, Craig Hjorth, Colin
Pereira-Webber, Barry Childress, William Gieseke, Adele Kaufman,
and my son Michael Bendicsen for their interest in this topic, recom-
mendations with respect to content and consistency, and encourage-
ment to share it with a wider audience. Modifications of this version
were also read by Samuel Abrams and Robert A. King. The thought-
ful assessments of both Samuel Abrams and Robert A. King with
respect to scope and content are appreciated; their input was quite
helpful and led directly to the second version.
My study group consisting of Kirk Alley, Bernadette Berardi-
Coletta, Susan G. Burland, Debra A. Carioti, John Colby Martin,
Rosalie Price, and Kathleen M. O’Connor provided support for my
hypothesis along with unvarnished criticism and encouraged me to
adopt a “finish it and submit it” attitude.
In particular, I want to thank Joseph Palombo, Co-Founding Dean
of the Chicago Institute for Clinical Social Work, and Barrie Richmond,
Faculty member of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis (CIP), for
giving me so much of their tightly scheduled time to offer critical
organising suggestions and ideas about framework. The erudite
contribution of Joseph Palombo sensitised me to the neo-positivist
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
perspective in current trends in mental health research, led me to
expand the section on the neurobiological self, cautioned me about the
potential for conceptual confusion in mixing metaphors, and helped
me to recognise how important this dimension is to more fully under-
stand the transformational self.
The scholarly participation of Barrie Richmond was motivational
and is unquestionably one of the cornerstones of this paper. His
enthusiasm for the nature of adolescent dynamics and his curiosity
about the process of adolescence validated my hypotheses and made
the weariness of revision more enjoyable than tedious. His knowledge
about the intersection of metaphor theory and psychoanalysis was
particularly relevant. His patient, tolerant approach allowed me to
move at my own pace, make mistakes, and learn from them. Without
his persistent encouragement this monograph would not exist.
With respect to the second version, I want to thank Aileen Philips
Schloerb, a psychotherapist in the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy
Clinic at the CIP, my daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Bendicsen, and
William Gieseke (in particular once again), for their careful proof read-
ing and overall assessment as to goodness of fit with the elements of
this theoretical composite. In the Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic
Psychotherapy Program at the CIP I want to thank Co-Director Ed
Kaufman for encouraging me to access second year students: Jean
Rounds, Teresa Fitzgerald, Renee Raap, Harriet Berlin, Camila Bassi
Peschanski, and fourth year students: Audra Bowie, Claudia Benitez,
Andrea Fouchia, Stephanie Halpern, Monica Buttafava Trotta, Kevin
McMahon, and Charlotte Mallon (visiting student) who asked those
supremely difficult questions that only students can ask, further clari-
fying my thinking.
Again, my study group of Debbie Barrett, Bernadette Berardi-
Coletta, Debra A. Carioti, John Colby Martin, Kathleen M. O’Connor,
and Rosalie Price read earlier and later copies and were, consequently,
able to compare and contrast both versions of this material. They
stressed the need for conceptual clarity and consistency in order to
avoid confusion and ambiguity.
The second and present version owes its existence to Barrie
Richmond and to Joe Palombo. They have been insightful partners
and valuable collaborators in this long journey. Barrie encouraged
me to deepen my understanding of the transformational self from
the standpoint of Kohut’s seminal paper on the transformations of
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix
narcissism. In addition, Barrie explained the nature of the paragraph
in some detail as a means to strengthen and focus my otherwise
wandering writing style.
Joe Palombo has been most generous with his time and sharing of
his scholarly knowledge. His many contributions to this second
version are too numerous to mention. However, a few are poignant
and most significant. Joe’s encouragement to reorganise the mono-
graph to improve flow and readability was of great importance. His
suggestions to expand the sections on neurobiology, attachment
theory, and non-linear dynamic systems theory considerably strength-
ened this project.
I am grateful to Dorothy Valintis who brought her considerable
grammarian skills to bear as one of the proof readers for the last
edition of this work. Also, my family deserves special mention, espe-
cially my wife Kathleen, who has been most patient during the long
hours of rewriting and editing.
In addition, I want to recognise the assistance of Ellen Fechner and
Maureen Hansen for supplying formatting assistance for the chart
entitled, “Modern and postmodern philosophical paradigms in
clinical social work from a developmental model perspective”. Kate
Schechter provided valuable guidance on the display of variables and
on reconfiguring the chart to fit the specific purposes of this mono-
graph. Rita Sussman offered suggestions on positioning pieces of data
which improved readability and further clarified my thoughts on the
subject.
Last, I want to thank Rod Tweedy (Editorial Assistant), and
Catherine Harwood (Production Manager), at Karnac Books; as well
as the production team at The Studio Publishing Services, for their
reliable support and patient guidance through the entire process of
preparing this manuscript for publication.