Object Relations

2-Year Certificate Program (2YCP)
2022-23, 3rd Term — Mondays, 6:30-7:45pm
Katherine Weissbourd, PhD

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Introduction

In this course we begin with a historical review of object relations theory and then look at more recent contributions. Object relations theory brought an awareness of early attachment issues and preverbal mental processes into psychoanalytic theory and introduced ways to work with them in treatment.

We will first revisit the historical controversies that accompanied the work of Melanie Klein, at a time when psychoanalytic thought diverged into two separate schools, ego psychology and object relations. The many important contributions of Klein will be the focus of our second class. We will then turn to the writings of Donald Winnicott, who represents the Middle School, which integrated object relations and ego psychology. Winnicott focused on the role of the mother-child relationship as well as the development of the young child’s separate self. Following this we will look at Wilfred Bion’s work. Bion addresses both early childhood attachment and adult thought, with a more explicit interpersonal and relational perspective. His work is a bridge to contemporary object relations theory.

Additionally, we will be introduced to more recent writers and thinkers who expanded and added to tenets of earlier Object Relations notions.  These contemporary ideas offer something rich and creative.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Have a clear understanding of the historical controversies that led to the separate development of object relations and ego psychology, and of how these are addressed differently in contemporary object relations.
2. Appreciate the importance of very early attachment and the impact of early caregiving relationships on the development of mental processes.
3. Have a deeper sense of the importance of unconscious thought processes, including fantasy and imagination, in adult experience and relationships.

January 30, 2023 — When and why did Object Relations theory begin?

[11 pages]

In line with her work analyzing young children, Klein became focused on observing very early thought processes, and explored the ways that early relationship and attachment patterns persisted throughout adult life. These views contrasted with the work of Freud and his daughter Anna. They believed that psychoanalytic work could not begin until a child was 6 and able to think reflectively. This resulted in a split in the British Psychoanalytic Society.

This class will review the origins of object relations as a separate branch of psychoanalytic theory and practice. A video about the “Controversial Discussions” will introduce you to how and why Klein and her followers developed a new analytic approach in London during the Second World War.

Palmer, S.; Bernays, P.; Baynes, J.; Jacob, W.; Golynkina, E.; Booker, T.; Abram, J.; Birkstead-Breen, D.; Bronstein, C.; Fonagy, P.; Hinshelwood, B.; Hernandez-Halton, I.; Perelberg, R.; Robinson, K.; Sandler, A.; Schore, A.; Solms, M.; Steiner, R.; Tuckett, D. (2015) Controversial Discussions for the XXIst Century. PEP Video Grants, 1:2.

How to access this on Pep-Web: Subject “Controversial Discussions”, author Palmer

Hernandez-Halton, I. (2015) Seventy Years on: Some Clinical Consequences of the Controversial Discussions. British Journal of Psychotherapy 31:85-95

Point of focus: Do you think that this split was inevitable? Do you think that it enriched psychoanalysis, or not?

Optional Reading

Freud Museum: https://www.freud-museum.at/en/subsites-exhibition-analysis/articles/object-relations-theories.