The Development of Insight

Conceptions of Structure in Interpersonal Psychoanalysis

“…Like Sullivan (e.g., 1953) and , Singer underlines how the same cog nitive structures simultaneously perform unconscious defensive functions and orienting functions in day to day living. Tenzer (1983Tenzer ( , 1984Tenzer ( , 1985Tenzer ( , 1988, too, emphasizes the process of protecting cognitive stability, but unlike Singer and Wachtel, she does not restrict her focus to the role of structure in transference and countertransference. According to Tenzer (1985), in our on going attempt "to give maximum coherence to our perceptions, feelings, and thoughts" (p. 229)-that is, to structure our worlds -we circumscribe ourselves by what Piaget calls "pseudo-necessi ties," a term describing schémas more or less impervious to change.…”