Some observations on the process of mourning

Bibliographic Data

ID8971023
AuthorsOtto F Kernberg (NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital, corresponding author), Otto Kernberg (New York Presbyterian Hospital, 21 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains, New York, NY 10605, USA)
Year2010
Volume91
Issue3
Pages601-619
Publication date2010-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe International Journal of Psychoanalysis (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7578 • E-ISSN: 1745-8315
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1745-8315.2010.00286.x
PMID20590930
OpenAlexW2118145121
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited6

The main proposal of this paper is that normal mourning is not completed after six months to a year or two as suggested in earlier literature, but may bring about a permanent alteration of psychological structures that affect various aspects of the mourning persons' lives. These structural consequences of mourning consist in the setting up of a persistent internalized object relationship with the lost object that affects ego and superego functions. The persistent internalized object relationship develops in parallel to the identification with the lost object, and the superego modification includes the internalization of the value systems and life project of the lost object. A new dimension of spiritual orientation, the search for transcendental value systems, is one consequence of this superego modification

Dimension (graph theory · Epistemology · Id, ego and super-ego · Internalization · Object (grammar · Object relations theory · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Transcendental number · Value (mathematics · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics · Hermeneutics and Narrative Identity · Medicine · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Psychology · Social Psychology

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