Heinz Kohut

**Heinz Kohut** (Vienna, 1913 – Chicago, 1981) was an Austrian-American psychoanalyst, founder of **Self Psychology**, one of the most influential currents of contemporary post-Freudian psychoanalysis, especially relevant for work with narcissism, early trauma, and identity wounds.

**Central Contribution**: Kohut radically reformulated the understanding of **narcissism**. While classical Freudian theory viewed narcissism as a developmental phase to be overcome, Kohut understood it as a healthy and necessary dimension of the human psyche throughout life. Adult psychic health requires a cohesive, vital, and stable sense of self—and this depends on early mirroring experiences.

**Central Concepts**:

**Selfobjects**: significant people in our environment whose functions we internalize to sustain the cohesion of our own self. Three types: **mirroring** (someone who reflects our worth: 'how good you are'), **idealization** (an admirable person who offers us a model), **twinship** (someone similar to us with whom we share experiences).

**Narcissistic trauma**: when selfobjects are absent or repeatedly fail in childhood, the self becomes fragmented, vulnerable to feelings of emptiness, narcissistic rage in response to minor wounds, and a compulsive search for external admiration.

**Empathy as a central clinical instrument**: Kohut shifted the emphasis of psychoanalysis from intellectual interpretation toward the therapist's sustained **empathic attunement** with the patient's subjective experience. This position massively influenced contemporary psychotherapy, connecting with the work of Stern and Schore.

**Importance for early trauma**: Self Psychology is one of the most effective frameworks for understanding clients with wounded narcissism, chronic feelings of emptiness, and difficulty sustaining a sense of self. It is compatible with systemic work when it is identified that the narcissistic wound also has a transgenerational component.