Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 4 (Dec. 1997)

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Browsing Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 4 (Dec. 1997) by Author "Howell, Elizabeth F., 1946-"

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    Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 4, p. 230-239 : Desperately seeking attachment: a psychoanalytic reframing of the harsh superego
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-12) Howell, Elizabeth F., 1946-
    This article presents a new model of superego organization that is dissociation-based. Clinicians often work intuitively with the harsh superego as if it were a dissociated internal persecutory fragment or self-state, even though theory has not provided a clear conceptual basis for this kind of approach. Despite differing theoretical understandings of the nature and origins of the harsh superego, there appears to be consensus that the harsh superego is best approached therapeutically with the aim of softening its hold. Although the term superego is commonly used, its meanings are not always clear. Superego is understood both as a source of psychopathology and as a moral agency. Understood as psychopathology, the meaning of superego is problematic, as the theoretical model of superego frequently differs radically from the clinically observed phenomena. Understood as morality, the meaning of superego is also unclear in that it can be relativistic and subject to corruption (Kohlberg, 1971; Sagan, 1988). In addition, the interrelationships of these two meanings can be confusing. This article begins by describing some of the problems in the superego construct. It then recasts this construct in terms of attachment theory and dissociation. It is proposed that in many cases harsh superego may be understood more usefully in terms of dissociation than in terms of the structural model and the Oedipus construct. There may be reasons in the history of psychoanalytic theory that have obscured this possibility. The role of attachment in superego and moral development (Schore, 1997; Lewis, 1981, 1983; Wilson, 1983) is emphasized. It is proposed that it is the attachment, not the rule-following in itself, that is moral. The implications of this model for working more effectively with self-punitive and self-critical behavior are addressed.
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    Dissociation : Volume 10, No. 4, p. 240-245 : Masochism: a bridge to the other side of abuse
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1997-12) Howell, Elizabeth F., 1946-
    Masochism is a useful and meaningful term that can and should be rescued from the theoretical morass in which it has been buried. Victim-blaming connotations stemming from its historical linkage to the motivational concept of pleasure in pain disappear when masochism is reframed as an outcome of dissociation rather than of volition. In concert with an ever-increasing understanding of the centrality of dissociation in various types of psychopathology (Ross, 1986; Beahrs, 1982; Davies & Frawley, 1994; Putnam, 1997; Waites, 1993; Watkins & Watkins, 1997), this article presents a view of masochism as dissociation-based. It also describes the emergence of masochism from attachment need (specifically, attachment to the abuser); and how the interaction of attachment need with dissociation is at the heart of the syndrome. It then shows how masochism contains the seeds of its own transcendence. Recent research (Dell, 1997) and theory (Blizard, 1997; Blizard & Bluhm,1994) suggest that Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and Dissociative Disorder NOS (DDNOS) are heavily laden with masochistic (self-defeating) psychopathology. Although masochism is not limited to these diagnoses, dissociative processes appear to be central to the development of masochistic psychopathology.