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Complexity Of The Self

A Developmental Approach To Psychopathology And Therapy
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In this profound work, Vittorio Guidano expands upon his earlier seminal contributions on the application of cognitive and developmental principles to individuals struggling with various forms of psychopathology. Here, he fully develops the idea that individuals' experience, both positive and negative, are powerfully influenced by their personal "psychological organizations." Focusing primarily on the eating disorders, the phobias (with agoraphobia as the prototype) obsessive-compulsive patterns, and depression, Guidano illustrates how early developmental experiences and ongoing psychological processes may collude to perpetuate dysfunctional patterns and personal distress. This timely and provocative volume offers exciting new ideas about how to conceptualize and facilitate change in the "self system." With the rare combination of his Renaissance intellect and integrative practical expertise, Guidano has been able to draw together many disparate themes from object relations theory, ego psychology, attachment theory, constructivist models of human cognition, and lifespan developmental psychology. It is must reading for the practicing professional, the helping apprentice, and anyone interested in glimpsing the cutting edge at the growing interface between cognitive and clinical science.
PART I. THEORETICAL PRINCIPLES. 1. Introductory Notes on Self-Organized Complexity and a Systems Approach: Evolutionary Epistemology; Hierarchical Organization and Coalitional Control; Dynamic Equilibrium and Dialectical Growth; Temporal Becoming and the Historical Dimension. 2. A Motor-Evolutionary Perspective on Human Knowledge: Motor Theories of the Mind; Tacit and Explicit Levels of Knowing; Emotions and the Primacy of Personal Meaning; 3. On Selfhood Processes, Attachment, and Identity: Selfhood as a Dialectical, Interactive Process; Attachment Processes and Self-Identity. PART II. DEVELOPMENTAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS. 4. Development: Introductory Remarks; Infancy and Preschool Years; Self-Recognition; Parent-Child Relationship; The Emergence of Emotions and Consciousness; Selfhood Processes in Preschool Years; Childhood; Parent-Child Relations; The Emergence of Stable Boundaries of the Self; Selfhood Processes in Childhood; Adolescence and Youth; Parent-Child Relationship; The Reorganization of Self-Boundaries; Selfhood Processes in Adolescence and Youth. 5. Organization: A Two-Level Model of Knowledge Processes; The Tacit Organizing Level; The Explicit Structural Level; Attitudes Toward Oneself and Reality; The Notion of Personal Cognitive Organization; Organizational Closure and Structural Openness; Change and Systemic Coherence. PART III. TOWARD A SYSTEMS/PROCESS-ORIENTED PSYCHOPATHOLOGY. 6. Patterns and Processes: The Influence of Parenting Behavior on Dysfunctional Patterns of Attachment; Adolescence Reorganization and the Integration Problem; Personal Cognitive Organizations and Clinical Patterns; The Dynamics of Cognitive Dysfunction. 7. The Depressive Cognitive Organization: Dysfunctional Patterns of Attachment; Identity Development; Organizational Aspects; Systemic Coherence; The Dynamics of Cognitive Dysfunction. 8. The Agoraphobic Cognitive Organization: Dysfunctional Patterns of Attachment; Identity Development; Organizational Aspects; Systemic Coherence; The Dynamics of Cognitive Dysfunction. 9. The Eating Disorders Cognitive Organization: Invariant Aspects of Dysfunctional Patterns of Attachment; Identity Development; Organizational Aspects; Systemic Coherence; The Dynamics of Cognitive Dysfunction. 10. The Obsessive Cognitive Organization: Invariant Aspects of Dysfunctional Patterns of Attachment; Identity Development; Organizational Aspects; Systemic Coherence; The Dynamics of Cognitive Dysfunction. 11. Principles of Lifespan Developmental Psychopathology: Development as a Lifelong, Directional Process; Bifurcation Points in Lifespan Dynamic Equilibrium; The Notion of Life Theme. 12. Concluding Remarks. Appendix: Some Strategic Principles for Cognitive Therapy. References.
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