Kohut & Rogers: Comparison

A detailed Summary of Kohut & Rogers: Comparison

A comparison between Heinz Kohut and Carl Rogers illuminates the contributions of the former to modern psychology, according to Edwin Kahn in an article published in the August 1985 edition of American Psychologist. Whereas the theories of Carl Rogers can be found in any introductory psychology textbook, Edwin notes that Kohut is rarely mentioned except perhaps on the pages of a specialized book on personality theory. Therefore, Kahn's article offers a "timely comparison" between the seminal humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers and the groundbreaking modern psychoanalyst Heinz Kohut.

Kohut successfully integrated Rogers' humanistic theories into traditional psychoanalysis, creating a unique brand of therapy and unique theories of the self and the therapeutic model. The result "provided a bridge between psychoanalysis and humanistic psychology," according to Kahn. Studying the similarities and differences between the two theorists can offer psychologists constructive new ways to integrate psychoanalysis and humanistic psychology, especially through the creation of the psychotherapeutic ambiance.

The core similarities outweigh the differences between Kohut and Rogers. Both Kohut and Rogers were preeminently concerned with the subje

Kahn outlines Kohut's three constituents of self and his three major self-object transferences. Kohut's three constituents of self include one, the child's exhibitionist or grandiose tendencies; two, idealizing needs; and three, the maturation of the alter-ego, or the twinship needs. Through childhood, the individual adapts through a series of what Kohut calls "optimal frustration." In other words, when a need is not fulfilled by a self-object, the child will internalize that need in the process of "transmuting internalization." For example, the mother's admiration becomes self-respect in the absence of her cooing praise. When the individual adapts to optimal frustration through transmuting internalization, he or she strengthens the structure of the self. However, when the self-objects of childhood are not empathetic, self-structuralization can be impeded, leading to a fragmentation of the self. During therapy, the client will use three types of self-object transferences, corresponding to the three sectors of self.

The two theorists also differed on their definitions of self. According to Kahn, Kohut "studied the self in more depth and complexity than Rogers." For Rogers, the ideal self is a gestalt, a whole. When healthy an individual experiences to

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