1. any system of psychology focused on the self.

2. a school of psychoanalytical theory that stresses the importance, in healthy self-development, of an individual’s relationships with others and locates the source of many psychological problems in caregivers’ lack of responsiveness to the child’s emotional needs. In self-psychological therapy, the therapist attempts to build an empathetic relationship with the patient, rather than keep an emotional distance as in classic psychoanalytical practice. [pioneered by Austrian-born U.S. psychoanalyst Heinz Kohut (1913–1981)]