Basic Tenets of Separation Theory
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9020254 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert W Firestone (0000-0002-2064-1791, The Glendon Association, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 367-390 |
| Publication date | 2019-11-21 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Humanistic Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-1678 • E-ISSN: 1552-650X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022167819889218 |
| OpenAlex | W2991464103 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 24 |
This article outlines the basic tenets of separation theory, including the fantasy bond and the voice process. The fantasy bond is a unifying concept explaining how human beings seek security in fantasies of fusion in an attempt to heal the fracture related to interpersonal trauma compounded by death anxiety. Painful elements in parent–child interactions are incorporated in the form of a negative thought process or “voice,” creating a division in the personality between the self and the anti-self. My colleagues and I developed a methodology called “voice therapy” to expose and contend with people’s destructive attitudes and attacks on themselves. The article also describes the evolution of a group of more than 100 associates and friends who have lived in close proximity and shared their innermost feelings in an ongoing group experience for more than 40 years. These people contributed significantly to the evolution of separation theory. Together, we developed an implicit set of values based on understanding factors that hurt people in their psychological development. The article specifies the concepts learned from observing the reference population and delineates findings from research in the neurosciences, attachment theory, and terror management theory that validate the key concepts of separation theory
Epistemology · Fantasy · Feeling · Interpersonal communication · Population · Set (abstract data type · Sociology · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology
Interpretation of schizophrenia.
When Death is Good for Life
Subliminal Exposure to Death-Related Stimuli Increases Defense of the Cultural Worldview
Security in Infancy, Childhood, and Adulthood
Providing Social Support May Be More Beneficial Than Receiving It
Imitation, Empathy, and Mirror Neurons
Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality
The ?voice
Psychological Defenses Against Death Anxiety
Voices in Suicide
The effects of early relational trauma on right brain development, affect regulation, and infant mental health
Exploring individual differences in reactions to mortality salience
| Citations per year | 0.4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2024 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |