The fourth volume in the Progress in Self Psychology series continues to explore the theoretical yield and clinical implications of the wok of the late Heinz Kohut. Learning from Kohut features sections on "supervision with Kohut" and on the integration of self psychology with classical psychoanalysis. Developmental contributions examine self psychology in relation to constitutional factors in infancy. Clinical presentations focusing on optimum frustration and the therapeutic process and on the self-psychological treatment of a case of "intractable depression" elicit the animated commentary that makes this volume, like its predecessors, as enlivening as it is instructive.

The tenth volume in the Progress in Self Psychology series begins with four timely assessments of the selfobject concept, followed by a section of clinical papers that span the topics of homosexuality, alter ego countertransference, hypnosis, trauma, dream theory, and intersubjective approaches to conjoint therapy. Section III, "A Dialogue of Self Psychology," offers Merton Gill's astute appreciation of "Heinz Kohut's Self Psychology," followed by commentaries by Leider and Stolorow and Gill's reply. The concluding section offers Stolorow and Atwood's "The Myth of the Isolated Mind," followed by discussions by Gehrie and the Shanes. A forum for the kind of spirited, productive exchanges that have long found a home within the self-psychological community, A Decade of Progress builds on the past in responding to the theoretical and clinical challenges of the present.

Postmodern Self Psychology, the last volume of the Progress in Self Psychology series under the editorship of Arnold Goldberg, charts the path of self psychology into the postmodern era of psychoanalysis. It begins with Goldberg's thoughtful consideration of the several tributaries of self-psychological thought in the decades after Kohut and continues with Mark Gehrie's elaboration of "reflective realism" as a self-psychological way out of epistemological quagmires about the "essential reality" of the analytic endeavor. Clinical contributions offer contemporary perspectives on clinical themes that engaged Kohut in the 1970s: a study of the effect of "moments of meeting" on systems of pathological accomodation; a reappraisal of empathy as a "bi-directional negation"; and an assessment of the diverse clinical phenomena that justify a prolonged "understanding only" phase of treatment. The theory section of Volume 18 comparably charts the movement of self psychology toward a postmodern sensibility. Contributors reappraise intersubjectivity theory as a contextualist treatment approach consistent with dynamic systems theory; return to Kohut's concept of selfobject relationships, with special attention to the separate subjective and intersubjective components of selfobject experiences; and develop one of Kohut's early ideas into a theory of "forward edge" transferences that strengthen normal self-development. In all, Volume 18 is a richly insightful progress report on the current status of self psychology and a fitting capstone to Arnold Goldberg's distinguished tenure as editor of the Progress in Self Psychology series.

The premier volume in the Progress in Self Psychology Series was completed two years after Heinz Kohut's death in 1981. Hence, this volume has a unique status in the history of self psychology: it bears the imprint of Kohut while charting a course of theoretical and clinical growth in the post-Kohut era. Biographical reminiscences about Kohut (Strozier, Miller) and commentaries on Kohut's "The Self-Psychological Approach to Defense and Resistance" [chapter seven of How Does Analysis Cure?] (M. Shane, P. Tolpin, Brandchaft, Oremland) are juxtaposed with a section of self-psychological reassessments of interpretations (Basch, A. and P. Ornstein, Goldberg). Clinical papers cover the selfobject transferences (Hall, Shapiro), patient compliance (Wolfe), and the "self-pity response" (Wilson), while theoretical contributions present ideas of Stolorow, Bacal, White, and Detrick that are foundational to their subsequent writings. This volume helped to shape the theoretical and clinical agenda of self psychology in the decades following Kohut's death.

Volume 13 provides valuable examples of the very type of clinically grounded theorizing that represents progress in self psychology. The opening section of clinical papers encompasses compensatory structures, facilitating responsiveness, repressed memories, mature selfobject experience, shame in the analyst, and the resolution of intersubjective impasses. Two self-psychologically informed approaches to supervision are followed by a section of contemporary explorations of sexuality. Contributions to therapy address transference and countertransference issues in drama therapy, an intersubjective approach to conjoint family therapy, and the subjective worlds of profound abuse survivors. A concluding section of studies in applied self psychology round out this broad and illuminating survey of the field.

Volume 14 of Progress in Self Psychology, The World of Self Psychology, introduces a valuable new section to the series: publication of noteworthy material from the Kohut Archives of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. In this volume, "From the Kohut Archives" features a selection of previously unpublished Kohut correspondence from the 1940s through the 1970s. The clinical papers that follow are divided into sections dealing with "Transference and Countertransference," "Selfobjects and Objects," and " Schizoid and Psychotic Patients." As Howad Bacal explains in his introduction, these papers bear witness to the way in which self psychology has increasingly become a relational self psychology - a psychology of the individual's experience in the context of relatedness. Coburn's reconstrual of "countertransference" as an experience of self-injury in the wake of unresponsiveness to the analyst's own selfobject needs; Livingston's demonstration of the ways in which dreams can be used to facilitate "a playful and metaphorical communication between analyst and patient"; Gorney's examination of twinship experience as a fundamental goal of analytic technique; and Lenoff's emphasis on the relational aspects of "phantasy selfobject experience" are among the highlights of the collection. Enlarged by contemporary perspectives on gender and self-experience and a critical examination of "Kohut, Loewald, and the Postmoderns," Volume 14 reaffirms the position of self psychology at the forefront of clinical, developmental, and conceptual advance.

Volume 12 of the Progress in Self Psychology series begins with reassessments of frustration and responsiveness, optimal and otherwise, by MacIsaac, Bacal and Thomson, the Shanes, and Doctors. The philosophical dimension of self psychology is addressed by Riker, who looks at Kohut's bipolar theory of the self, and Kriegman, who examines the subjectivism-objectivism dialectic in self psychology from the standpoint of evolutionary biology. Clinical studies focus on self- and mutual regulation in relation to therapeutic action, countertransference and the curative process, and the consequences of the negative selfobject in early character formation. A separate section of child studies includes a case study exemplifying a self-psychological approach to child therapy and an examination of pathological adaptation to childhood parent loss. With a concluding section of richly varied studies in applied self psychology, Basic Ideas Reconsidered promises to be basic reading for all students of contemporary self psychology.

A collection of thoughtul presentations on transference and countertransference highlights The Realities of Transference, Volume 6 in the Progress in Self Psychology series. The selfobject transferences receive special attention. Elsewhere in this volme, selfobject phenomena are examined in relation to the process of working through, the origins of ambition, the psychology of addiction, the psychodynamic consequences of AIDS, and creativity. An exploration of the selfobjects of the second half of life offers new insight into later development.

Volume 15 of Progress in Self Psychology conveys the rich pluralism of contemporary self psychology with respect to a central theoretical and clinical issue: the nature of the self and the manner in which is can best be studied. This topic is initially addressed through a series of papers reassessing selfobject transferences and the selfobject function of interpretation. It is then approached via the theory of psychoanalytic technique, with papers that focus on boundaries and intimacy and on "Surface, Depth, and the Isolated Mind". And it culminates in two case studies that elicit animated discussion delineating different perspectives - intersubjective, motivational systems, and self-selfobject - on the self in relation to the therapeutic process. Two studies comparing Melanie Klein and Heinz Kohut; a discussion of how current cultural attitudes affect parenting; a relational view of the therapeutic partnership; and an integration of Silvan Tomkin's affect theory with self psychology add breadth to this timely and provocative collection. Volume 15 includes additional letters from the Kohut Archives and a moving account of Kohut's struggle with his own impending death.

A special section of papers on the evolution, current status, and future development of self psychology highlights The Evolution of Self Psychology, volume 7 of the Progress in Self Psychology series. A critical review of recent books by Basch, Goldberg, and Stolorow et al. is part of this endeavor. Theoretical contributions to Volume 7 examine self psychology in relation to object relations theory and reconsider the relationship of psychotherapy to psychoanalysis. Clinical contributions deal with an intersubjective perspective on countertransference, the trauma of incest, and envy in the transference.