title: Self-envy and the concealment of inner resources.
abstract: Self-envy refers to envy of one's own inner resources. This term is an adjunct to the psychodynamic understanding of developmental self-arrest, defined as deliberate and defensive impairment of one's own abilities and accomplishments and the concealment of inner resources. The article suggests possible explanations for the formation of self-envy, emphasizing the formation of envious object representations and the construction of a part of the personality based on these introjections. The effects of self-envy on patient therapist relations are also described, focusing on two particular manifestations: attachment to the therapist as a defense against self-envy and attacking the therapeutic contract as one of the patient's assets. Excerpts from a case study are included.
authors.affiliation: aberman@ibm.net
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berman
mesh_terms: D003379:Countertransference; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011385:Projection; D011572:Psychoanalysis; D012649:Self Concept; D013475:Superego; D014167:Transference, Psychology