title: Happiness: origins, forms, and technical relevance.
abstract: By critically reviewing Freud's views on happiness, and also those of Helene Deutsch, Bertram Lewin, Melanie Klein, and Heinz Kohut, the author evolves a complex and multilayered perspective on the phenomenon. He categorizes happiness into four related and occasionally overlapping varieties: pleasure-based happiness (elation), assertion-based happiness (joy), merger-based happiness (ecstasy), and fulfillment-based happiness (contentment). After entering some caveats and drawing from his clinical experience, the author then demonstrates the relevance of these ideas to the conduct of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.
authors.affiliation: Jefferson Medical College, Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, USA.
authors.forename: Salman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akhtar
mesh_terms: D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005619:Freudian Theory / Q000266:history; D006240:Happiness; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D057181:Pleasure; D011572:Psychoanalysis / Q000266:history; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D011613:Psychotherapy