How Does Analysis Cure? is Heinz Kohut's final book. It is, in part, a response to criticism leveled at his two previous books, The Analysis of the Self and The Restoration of the Self, but it is also a thoughtful, fluent reevaluation of his own work in psychoanalytic self psychology. The volume does more than address particulars. In his attempt to answer questions raised by The Restoration of the Self, Kohut was moved to modify his thinking-to develop fundamentally different ideas on the nature of analytic cure and to elaborate on his concepts of empathy, the Oedipus complex, and selfobject transferences. Kohut's discussion of his theoretical framework is coupled with a reappraisal of self psychology in practice. He attempts to clarify his clinical theory, emphasizing in particular the nature of the curative effects of analysis. Though he focuses on psychoanalytic cure, using detailed illustrations from clinical practice to make his points, he extends his thesis to explain all methods of psychological cure. How Does Anlysis Cure? was edited after Kohut's death by Arnold Goldberg and Paul Stepansky.

More than a rebuttal of conflicting views, this book represents a breakthrough in the history and evolution of psychoanalytic self psychology. Book jacket.