Selbsthass: Eine Reflexion über personzentrierte Begleitung durch abgrundtiefe Selbstverachtung hindurch1

Abstract

A reflection on personcentered assistance through abyssal self-contempt. The essay describes psychotherapies with persons, who experience hate against themselves in a habitual way, on the author’s personal experiences as a person-centered therapist in private practice. It places them in relation to person-centered theories such as therapy as personal dialogical encounter and “fragile process”, but also to experiential constructs like the “inner critic” and microtheories based on them. First, the phenomenology of self-hatred and the etiology of its basis — a persistent negative self-concept — are discussed. Reflections on the therapeutic relationship with clients who experience self-hatred makes it clear that attempts to ‘dissolve’ it through segmentation or confinement prove counterproductive. On the other hand, an attitude that is unconditionally open-minded and accepting towards self-hatred creates the preconditions for engaging in the therapeutic relationship and encourages personal development.