Jump to content

Otto F. Kernberg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Otto F. Kernberg
Otto F. Kernberg digital photo by David L. Lopez
Born
Otto Friedmann Kernberg

(1928-09-10) 10 September 1928 (age 97)
Vienna, Austria
Known forPsychoanalytic theories on borderline personality organization and narcissistic pathology
Scientific career
FieldsPsychoanalysis and Severe Personality Disorders
InstitutionsColumbia University
Weill Cornell Medical College
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
University of Chile

Otto Friedmann Kernberg (Austrian German: [ˈkɛrnbɛrg]; born 10 September 1928) is an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst and professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine, known for developing transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP). He is recognized internationally for his contributions to the psychoanalytic theories on borderline personality organization and narcissistic pathology.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

[edit]

Kernberg was born in Vienna to Jewish parents, Leo and Sonia Paula (Friedmann) Kernberg.[4] His family emigrated to Chile in 1939 to escape Nazi persecution. He studied biology and medicine at the University of Chile, where he also trained in psychiatry and psychoanalysis at the Chilean Psychoanalytic Society.[5]

Career

[edit]

In 1959, Kernberg moved to the United States on a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship to study psychotherapy research with Jerome Frank at Johns Hopkins Hospital.[6] He then joined the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, where he directed the Psychotherapy Research Project and served as Supervising and Training Analyst at the Topeka Institute for Psychoanalysis.[7]

In 1973 he became Director of the General Clinical Service at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. The following year he was appointed Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University and Training and Supervising Analyst at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. In 1976 he joined Cornell University as Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Institute for Personality Disorders at the New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center.[8] From 1997 to 2001 he served as President of the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA). On his 97th birthday, September 10, 2025, he was named Honorary President of the IPA.

Transference-Focused Psychotherapy

[edit]

Kernberg developed transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP), a structured form of psychodynamic treatment for borderline personality organization (BPO) and related conditions.[9] TFP is based on object relations theory and emphasizes the interpretation of split and contradictory self- and object-representations as they emerge in the therapeutic relationship.

TFP typically involves two to three sessions per week, each lasting 45–50 minutes.[10] Treatment begins with a contract defining patient and therapist responsibilities, including safety measures for suicidal and self-destructive behaviors.[10] The therapeutic process centers on identifying object relations in the transference, interpreting associated affects and defenses (e.g., splitting, idealization, devaluation), and fostering integration of polarized self- and object-representations.[11]

Randomized controlled trials have found TFP effective in reducing suicidality, anger, and impulsivity, and in improving reflective functioning and interpersonal capacity.[12]

Theory on narcissism and relationship to Kohut

[edit]

Kernberg distinguished between normal and pathological forms of narcissism. Pathological narcissism, in his view, involves libidinal investment in a pathological self-structure and manifests in conditions such as narcissistic personality disorder.[13][2]

His views have often been contrasted with those of Heinz Kohut, founder of self psychology. Kernberg emphasized aggression, primitive defenses, and pathological object relations in narcissistic pathology,[14] while Kohut emphasized developmental arrest and unmet empathic needs.[15]

In clinical technique, Kernberg recommended confronting and interpreting narcissistic defenses, whereas Kohut advocated sustaining empathic responsiveness to narcissistic transferences.[1] Their divergent approaches shaped one of the central debates in late 20th-century psychoanalysis.[16]

Developmental model

[edit]

Kernberg proposed a developmental model of personality organization that integrates Freud's drive theory with Klein's positions.[17] Two critical early tasks are:

  • Differentiation of self and other – failure predisposes to psychotic pathology.
  • Integration of positive and negative representations – failure underlies borderline personality organization.[18]

He outlined sequential stages: normal autism (0–1 month), symbiosis (2–6 months), differentiation (6–36 months), integration (from ~3 years), and consolidation of ego, superego, and id during the Oedipal period.[19]

Unlike Freud, Kernberg views libidinal and aggressive drives as consolidated from early relational experiences rather than innate.[14]

Honors and recognition

[edit]

Kernberg has received multiple awards for his contributions to psychiatry and psychoanalysis, including:

He served as President of the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) from 1997 to 2001.[23] Kernberg is a current Honorary President of IPA since September 10, 2025.

Personal life

[edit]

Otto Kernberg was married to child psychiatrist Paulina Kernberg until her death in 2006.[24] In 2008 he married psychologist Catherine Haran.[25]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Mitchell, S. A., & Black, M. J. (1995). Freud and Beyond: A History of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought. New York: Basic Books, pp. 199–212.
  2. ^ a b Lunbeck, E. (2014). The Americanization of Narcissism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 64–70.
  3. ^ Doering, S., Hörz, S., Rentrop, M., Fischer-Kern, M., Schuster, P., Benecke, C., ... & Buchheim, P. (2010). "Transference-focused psychotherapy vs treatment by community psychotherapists for borderline personality disorder: randomised controlled trial". The British Journal of Psychiatry, 196(5), 389–395.
  4. ^ Koch, B. J., Bendicsen, H. K., & Palombo, J. (2009). Guide to Psychoanalytic Developmental Theories. New York: Springer, pp. 45–47.
  5. ^ Lopez-Corvo, R. (2003). The Dictionary of the Work of W. R. Bion. London: Karnac, p. 198.
  6. ^ Clarkin, J. F., Yeomans, F. E., & Kernberg, O. F. (2006). Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality: Focusing on Object Relations. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, p. 12.
  7. ^ "Otto Kernberg, M.D., Menninger Clinic at Topeka, Kansas - Kansas Memory". www.kansasmemory.gov.
  8. ^ Clarkin, J. F., Levy, K. N., Lenzenweger, M. F., & Kernberg, O. F. (2004). "The Personality Disorders Institute/Borderline Personality Disorder Research Foundation randomized control trial for borderline personality disorder: rationale, methods, and patient characteristics". Journal of Personality Disorders, 18(1), 52–72.
  9. ^ Yeomans, F. E., Clarkin, J. F., & Kernberg, O. F. (2015). Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Clinical Guide. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.
  10. ^ a b Clarkin, John F.; Levy, Kenneth N.; Lenzenweger, Mark F.; Kernberg, Otto F. (2004). "The Personality Disorders Institute/Borderline Personality Disorder Research Foundation randomized control trial for borderline personality disorder: rationale, methods, and patient characteristics". Journal of Personality Disorders. 18 (1): 52–72. doi:10.1521/pedi.18.1.52.32770. PMID 15061345.
  11. ^ Levy, K. N., Clarkin, J. F., Yeomans, F. E., Scott, L. N., Wasserman, R. H., & Kernberg, O. F. (2006). "The mechanisms of change in the treatment of borderline personality disorder with transference-focused psychotherapy". Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62(4), 481–501.
  12. ^ Doering, S., Hörz, S., Rentrop, M., Fischer-Kern, M., Schuster, P., Benecke, C., ... & Buchheim, P. (2010). The British Journal of Psychiatry, 196(5), 389–395.
  13. ^ Kernberg, O. F. (1975). Borderline Conditions and Pathological Narcissism. New York: Jason Aronson.
  14. ^ a b Kernberg, O. F. (1992). Aggression in Personality Disorders and Perversions. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  15. ^ Strozier, C. B. (2001). Heinz Kohut: The Making of a Psychoanalyst. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pp. 227–233.
  16. ^ Mitchell, S. A. (1988). Relational Concepts in Psychoanalysis: An Integration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 80–85.
  17. ^ Kernberg, O. F. (1984). Severe Personality Disorders: Psychotherapeutic Strategies. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  18. ^ Caligor, E., Kernberg, O. F., Clarkin, J. F., & Yeomans, F. E. (2007). Handbook of Dynamic Psychotherapy for Higher Level Personality Pathology. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, pp. 12–20.
  19. ^ Kernberg, O. F. (1976). Object Relations Theory and Clinical Psychoanalysis. New York: Jason Aronson, pp. 34–50.
  20. ^ "American Psychoanalytic Association: Heinz Hartmann Award recipients".
  21. ^ Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital. Edward A. Strecker Award in Psychiatry, award history.
  22. ^ Association for Psychoanalytic Medicine. George E. Daniels Merit Award, award announcements.
  23. ^ International Psychoanalytical Association: Past Presidents
  24. ^ "Paulina Kernberg, 71, Psychiatrist of Divorce". NY Sun. 2006-04-14. Archived from the original on 2020-08-16.
  25. ^ "Profiles: Otto Kernberg". International Psychoanalytical Association. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Otto_F._Kernberg&oldid=1319020673"