Feeling at Home, Belonging, and Being Human: Kohut, Self Psychology, Twinship, and Alienation

Abstract

This article argues that the magnetism and power of self psychology has everything to do with the extent to which the theory facilitates in its practitioners, and their patients, a sense of belonging and one of feeling at home. Suggesting that these feelings have everything to do with who Kohut was, the article highlights particular aspects of Kohut’s identity to illustrate the influence of Kohut’s feelings of alienation on the methodology and the theory he developed—a theory in which he found a place for himself and fortunately, for others like himself. Given that the concept of “finding oneself in another” is one of the hallmarks of a twinship experience, this article of necessity introduces the twinship concept that is replete with references to struggles of alienation. Translating Kohut’s ultimate definition of twinship broadly into “a sense of belonging and one of feeling at home,” the author shares aspects of her own life experience to demonstrate how exquisitely attuned Kohut’s twinship concept is to working with individuals who, for whatever reasons, suffer from feelings of alienation and do not feel at home in themselves, nor in the contexts in which they live.