Relatedness, Self-Definition, Mental Representation, and Internalization in the Work of Sidney J. Blatt: Scientific and Clinical Contributions

In a career lasting more than 5 decades, Sidney J. Blatt made contributions to psychoanalysis, clinical psychology, personality theory, developmental psychology, psychological assessment, and psychotherapy research. In this paper, I present a biography of Sid Blatt and describe the 3 main ideas around which his work was organized: (a) the 2-configurations or double-helix model of personality organization, (b) the cognitive morphology or representational level of psychological development, and (c) internalization of caregiver-infant relationships as the chief means by which psychological development and psychotherapeutic change occur. I also discuss how these ideas structured his contributions to psychological assessment and psychotherapy research. I demonstrate how, as a result of his interactions with younger colleagues and mentees, his original conceptualization, which was dominated by psychoanalytic ego psychology and cognitive developmental psychology, incorporated ideas from attachment theory, intersubjectivity theory, and research on dyadic systems, especially between caregiver and infant. I conclude with a personal reminiscence of Sid Blatt's mentorship. 在长达50多年的职业生涯中,Sidney J. Blatt 对精神分析、临床心理学、人格理论、发展心理学、心理评估和心理治疗研究都做出了贡献。 本文中我呈现了Sid Blatt 的一个传记,描述了他的作品中的三个主要观点。(a) 人格组织的双构型或双螺旋型,(b) 心理发展的认知形态或表征水平,以及(c)照顾者-婴儿关系的内化作为心理发展和治疗性改变发生的主要手段。我也讨论了这些观点如何构成了他对心理评估和心理治疗研究的贡献。我论证了由于他和年轻的同行及学员的互动,他原来的由精神分析自我心理学和认知发展心理学占主导地位的概念化,纳入了来自依恋理论、主体间理论和二元系统特别是照顾者与婴儿间的研究的观点。最后,我以我个人对Sid Blatt 导师的追忆而结尾。