Freud, in his 1914 paper On Narcissism, was the first to advance a psychodynamic theory which explained aspects of adult narcissism.  He theorized a single line of libidinal development, from autoeroticism to narcissism to object love.  If libido is invested narcissistically, i.e., in the ego or self, it could not be invested in the object, i.e., in relationships. 

Since Freud’s believed that psychoanalysis could only be successful when the patient could form a transference neurosis based on object love, narcissistic patients could not be treated using this method.  These ideas remained the prevailing view in  psychoanalysis until Kohut. 

I Love You,Go Away
I Hate You, Don=t Leave Me:

My presentation this morning is going to constitute a journey through Masterson territory. Since the borderline is the first of the disorders  we=ll be reviewing, I=ll spend some time laying the groundwork that  underlies all the disorders, including evolution of the approach and general principles of diagnosis and treatment. Finally, I will move on to  discuss issues specific to the etiology, diagnosis and treatment of the Borderline Disorder.

The dangers of life are infinite and safety is among them.
                                   Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Deep within the icy confines of an arctic mountain lies the Fortress of Solitude, a  hiding place and haven in which Superman stores his treasures and his secrets, and in the cloistered citadel of which he encloses  himself ,keeping  safely distant from disturbance by the outside world.

In this presentation of  the Masterson= Approach to the Self Disorders, I am going to discuss issues relevant to the history and evolution, of the schizoid concept, and the diagnosis, treatment and subjective experience of individuals , who, like Superman,  preserve themselves. their treasures and their secrets in the safety and isolation of a self-constructed and self-contained  internal citadel. 

Jerry S. Katz, LCSW

Diagnosis of any disorder is most useful if it points to specific treatments.  Within the Masterson Approach, formulating a diagnosis goes beyond purely descriptive data to integrate information about the individual’s developmental history and the many ways he functions in the world.  As you will see throughout this Conference, the resulting textured picture of the patient’s Intrapsychic Structure determines the specific treatment interventions we make. 

The intrapsychic structure consists of self and object representations, the affects that connect them, and the ego functions and ego defenses that result from this structure. 

Mr. Loray Daws

Abstract

“Part of me wants to be adored, receive all the attention in the world and perfect affection. Another part [the fragmented self of the aggressive unit] says ‘I am no good.’ I have to hide until somebody else authenticates me. I show nothing until I know I’m the best. I love the response. I loved being number one in one high school course”

(Masterson, 1981, p. 68).

Mr. Loray Daws

Abstract

The term ‘borderline’ has received considerable attention from within all psychotherapeutic modalities. Initially approached as a ‘midway diagnosis’ between the neurosis and the psychosis, various theorists such as Meissner, Giovachinni, Rinsley, Kernberg, Fonagy and Masterson have greatly added to, and aided, the modern clinician in understanding the complex symptomology of the borderline patient. Currently clinicians can rely on a variety of clinical approaches to borderline patients such as ‘mentalization based treatment’, ‘transference focused psychotherapy’, to name only a few. It will be the aim of the current paper to trace the developmental, self and object relations approach of James Masterson and the work endeavored by the Masterson Institute.

Mandy Cassidy

Today I am going to talk about the Masterson approach to the psychotherapeutic treatment of self disorders. 

The Masterson approach is described as a developmental, self and object relations approach and is a unique treatment of personality disorder, based on the integration of ego psychology, developmental theory, object relations theory and self psychology.

In this presentation I will outline the main principles of the Masterson treatment.

This is a case study of working with a woman who has a Schizoid personality disorder and who suffered severe childhood sexual abuse.

In this paper I will illustrate how I came to understand the world of a Schizoid patient through tracking the disorder of the self triad, self-activation leads to anxiety and depression that leads to defence. Secondly, I will highlight some of the turning points in the progressive stages of therapy and demonstrate why it is so vital to work with the personality disorder before trauma work is attempted. Finally, I hope to bring alive the theory and process with actual verbatim reports of my work with this extraordinary person.