Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

One of the main diagnostic criteria of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is an absence of empathy. The concept of empathy does not feature greatly in the literature of the British Psychoanalytic Object Relations Schools. However, the work of both Klein and Bion suggests that there is a normal development of empathy: from ‘part-object’ to ‘whole-object’ relationship. Given this, the development of empathy should be central to the treatment of those with BPD. The communal structure of the Therapeutic Community (TC) would appear to offer an ideal environment in which to foster the development of empathy. This study explored the development of empathy in individuals who have a diagnosis of BPD and had completed a year in a TC. Three women, drawn from one TC, were interviewed in a pilot study. The textual analysis of these interviews suggested an increased appreciation of their thoughts and feelings and an empathic understanding of themselves and others. The interviews of four female, from a different TC, were analysed in the main study. No increase in empathy was identified. These participants reported being taught to manage their symptoms through repression of destructive thoughts and behaviours rather than through the development of empathy. Tentative conclusions and future research: 1. At least in some circumstances people with BPD can increase in empathy: insight, self-reflection, and changes in self-experience; 2. The fact that some participants showed no increase in empathy while others did may reflect individual differences in response to the intervention; and/or 3. There may be critical elements of the TC experience which promote the development of empathy; these elements need to be identified to make interventions more effective.

When we dream, Freud (1900) maintained, we slip backwards from a world of conscious action to an unconscious realm of infantile memory and desire. The residues of our waking life meet there with repressed primitive wishes capable of animating a dream. The idea of regression, with all of its intrigue, would shape a century of theory building. It would also become one of the thorniest, if recently neglected, areas of inquiry. The history of the concept attests to two interwoven but distinct traditions. One tradition emphasizes the defensive, or evasive, function of regression. The other calls attention to potential non-defensive, restorative functions. Both traditions rely problematically on what Hartmann (1965) termed the genetic fallacy: the reduction of later forms to their original precursors. The genetic fallacy, in turn, supports a morality of maturity whereby unwanted aspects of human experience, which we recognize to be universal, are nonetheless attributed uniquely to children or to images of the child within. I shall argue, contrary to the theory of regression, that the person is inextricably nested in the present field of lifespan development. What were formerly considered regressions are better described as shifts, or transformations, within the field. The pathologies of regression are best seen, not as the result of regressive arrest/fixation, but as adaptations to cyclical lifespan problems. I articulate the theoretical propositions behind this reframe and explore its application in two case histories, one of a defensive regression, one of restorative regression, in the recent literature.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Women's and Gender Studies." Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-95).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-317). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brown University, 2002. / Available in film copy from University Microfilms International. Vita. Thesis advisor: Ellen Rooney. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.