The Four Psychologies of Psychoanalysis and Their Place in Clinical Work

Abstract

Clinical psychoanalysis has led to the development of four conceptually separable perspectives on the functioning of the human mind. These are referred to herein as the psychologies of drive, ego, object relations, and self. Their clinical relevance is explored by applying them to issues regarding evenly hovering attention and the mutative factors in psychoanalysis. Those two areas, in turn, are seen to undergo an expansion when viewed from the perspective of each of the four psychologies.

On Being Wanted to Exist: A Spiritual Dimension in Pastoral Counseling and Psychoanalysis

“…Psychoanalytically, I agree with Fred Pine's (1988) complementary view on the different paradigms of psychoanalysis. Highlighting "the psychologies of drive, ego, object relations, and self," Pine (1988, pp.…”

Deconversion and Religious or Spiritual Transformation

“…According to the summarizing view provided by Pine's (1988) portrayal of "four psychologies", psychoanalysis can focus on drive and instinct, on taming socialization, and gratification of drives. Second, it can, as ego psychology, study the defenses of the internal and the adaptation to the external world.…”

Organizational Structure and the Establishment of Psychoanalytic Identification: Commentary on Paper by Randall Lehmann Sorenson

“…Others argue that emphases in psychoanalysis today were really not major elements in Freud's work. They reject the modifiers' strategy and believe that a new organizing theoretical paradigm is necessary (for different opinions, see, e.g., Pine, 1988;Fogel, 1996;Greenberg, 1996;Tyson, 1996; also see the follow-up discussions by Mitchell, 1999;Richards, 1999b). These are certainly legitimate differences of approach and opinion, but they also become the vehicle for an organizational struggle between psychoanalytic groups.…”

“…Differences that do exist could be subject to further exploration. This is, I believe, the approach Pine (1988) takes in his approach to integrating differing theoretical insights.…”