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Cognitive and interactive aspects of splitting

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.134.5.549

The author discusses splitting, the segregation of multiple inner schemata of self and others, from the points of view of cognitive structure, cognitive process, anad interpersonal transaction. A case example illustrates how one borderline patient shifted fluidly during therapy among four isolated and sometimes incompatible representations of the doctor-patient relationship. The author concludes that therapists working with borderline patients must be aware of atypical transference patterns and may have to introduce, as a special nuance of therapy, work to stabilize patients' realistic self- and therapist images before offering interpretations.

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