Knowing, Knowledge & Understanding
I have a friend who teaches psychology. Let’s call him Dr. since he has a Ph.D. in psychology. The Dr. is an okay guy. Nice enough, friendly and a little…
Ego Ideal – Is There an Ideal Ego?
Oh, the ego ideal! What misery this little psychodynamic bug-a-boo causes us. What is ego ideal? Early on, Freud used both expressions ‘ideal ego‘ and ‘ego ideal’. Later, Freud (1921),…
Object Relations Theory
Understanding object relations theory gives one invaluable insight into themselves and others. Object Relations Theory is the idea that the ego-self exists in relation to other objects, which may be…
Castration Complex
The core of the castration complex is castration anxiety. Castration anxiety literally means the fear that one’s testicles will be chopped off. The other day, I was talking to a…
Psychological Splitting
The good, the bad and the ugly. I never thought that Eli Wallach was that ugly, but whatever. I seem to be more sensitive recently to how much splitting or…
Loss of Self vs. Self is Lost
Loss of Self – What does it mean? What is lost? Is the experience similar to being lost? Buddhism and other non-dual teachings say there is no self to lose….