Multiple Narratives of the Origins of Kohut’s Self Psychology: Reminiscences and Reflections

This celebratory essay was presented at the unveiling of a memorial plaque on the outer wall of the Döblinger Bundesgymnasium in Vienna where Heinz Kohut obtained his Matura certificate. With this gesture the school honored one of its most illustrious graduates. The author describes the various origins of and later tributaries to Kohut’s creativity, which led him to introduce a new paradigm into psychoanalysis with far-reaching impact on its theory and especially on its therapeutic process.