Reconceptualizing the self

Stopa, Lusia (2009) Reconceptualizing the self. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16 (2), 142-148. (doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2008.11.001).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This article is an invited commentary on Moscovitch’s (2009) paper “What Is the Core Fear in Social Phobia? A New Model to 6 Facilitate Individualized Case Conceptualization and Treatment.” The crux of Moscovitch’s argument is that current models of social 7 phobia fail to conceptualize the nature of social fears correctly. Moscovitch proposes that the self is the phobic stimulus and should be the 8 target of exposure treatment, rather than social situations. This commentary evaluates Moscovitch’s claim and agrees that distorted 9 views of self are at the heart of the disorder, but contests the idea that the self can be conceptualized as a phobic stimulus. Instead, we need 10 to recognize that all individuals have multiple self-representations and that access to a current working self depends on a set of retrieval 11 mechanisms that involve both the contents of self-knowledge and the way that this information is stored. The application of these ideas to 12 social phobia is discussed. In the final section of the commentary, I discuss Moscovitch’s contributions to treatment derived from his new 13 model and outline some additional methods of working with the self, including imagery rescripting.

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