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Reconceptualizing Defense, Unconscious Processes, and Self-Knowledge: David Shapiro’s Contribution

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Personality and Psychopathology

Abstract

David Shapiro is an original, lucid, and independent thinker. Although obviously strongly influenced by psychoanalytic theory and practice, Shapiro does not easily fit into this or that psychoanalytic “school.” If one had to place him somewhere in the world of psychoanalytic theory, one would locate him in the broad category of ego psychology, a placement partly dictated by the obvious influence on his work of Reich’s character analysis and the writings and thoughts of his teacher, Helmuth Kaiser. However, as we will see, Shapiro’s thinking defies any straightforward assignment to a particular “school.”

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Although a large number of studies have reported a relationship between a “repressive style” and physical symptoms, Bonanno et al. (1995) and Coifman et al. (2007) reported opposite findings. However, whereas Coifman et al. assessed health status by employing a self-report health inventory – which itself can be biased by repressors’ tendency to avoid negative affects and memory of negative events – other studies supporting the relationship between “repressive style” and physical symptoms have relied on more objective measures, for example, number of health center visits and verified illness as judged by the attending nurse (Cousineau and Shedler 2006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY, 11530, USA

    Morris N. Eagle (Professor Emeritus, Distinguished Educator-in-Residence)

  2. California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91362, USA

    Morris N. Eagle (Professor Emeritus, Distinguished Educator-in-Residence)

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  1. Morris N. Eagle
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Correspondence to Morris N. Eagle .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Williams College Health Center, Knoll Road 105, Williamstown, 01267, Massachusetts, USA

    Craig Piers

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Eagle, M.N. (2011). Reconceptualizing Defense, Unconscious Processes, and Self-Knowledge: David Shapiro’s Contribution. In: Piers, C. (eds) Personality and Psychopathology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6214-0_6

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