The Private Self

“A richly challenging book… A prodigious review and criticism of much of psychoanalytic theory in addition to an exposition of new ideas in the psychology of the self. I enthusiastically recommend it to all those who are seriously interested in psychoanalytic theory.”—William R. Flynn, M.D., American Journal of Psychiatry

“There is a great deal of material here and the ‘self’ is examined from many different perspectives, primarily psychoanalytical… This is an important book.”—Ronald R. Koegler, M.D., American Journal of Psychotherapy

“Modell’s book refocuses attention on the importance of the private self as the source of our deepest motivations and basic values… This is an impressively rich theoretical contribution with concepts drawn from psychoanalysis, philosophy, literature, biography, infant psychiatry, and neuroscience. Modell’s clarity of thought and generosity of spirit are admirable, and he is neither formulaic nor contentious. It is a carefully reasoned, restrained, and respectful approach to unresolved theoretical issues.”—Milton Eber, Psychoanalytic Books