Selfless self-transcendence in the clinical setting as a source of self-enhancement

This paper examines the paradox of Selfless–Self-Transcendence, that is, how the self is enriched through self-renunciation. The article discusses what enables being carried away without forethought into selfless–self-transcendence and how, eventually, these inadvertent surrenders create therapeutic shifts. Using clinical vignettes, we suggest that the selfless move towards patients is part of a latent mutual process, with them, and it enables the restoration of the self to an enriched form. These depictions imply that like the patients, the analysts also encounter themselves in a truer way which allows them to become who they really are, through selflessly transcending themselves.