Object Relations Theory
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Object Relations Theory
Object relations theory is a school of thought in psychoanalytic theory and psychoanalysis centered around theories of stages of ego development. Its concerns include the relation of the psyche to others in childhood and the exploration of relationships between external people, as well as internal images and the relations found in them. Adherents to this school of thought maintain that the infant's relationship with the mother primarily determines the formation of their personality in adult life. Attachment is the bedrock of the development of the self, i.e. the psychic organization that creates one's sense of identity. Theory While its groundwork derives from theories of development of the ego in Freudian psychodynamics, object relations theory does not place emphasis on the role of biological drives in the formation of personality in adulthood. This school of thought instead suggests that a person's pattern of relations to others as an adult is shaped by experiences of ...
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Psychoanalytic Theory
Psychoanalytic theory is the theory of the innate structure of the human soul and the dynamics of personality development relating to the practice of psychoanalysis, a method of research and for treating of Mental disorder, mental disorders (psychopathology). Laid out by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th century (s. ''The Interpretation of Dreams''), he developed the theory and practice of psychoanalysis until his death in 1939. Since then, it has been further refined, also divided into various sub-areas, but independent of this, Freuds structural distinction of the soul into three functionally interlocking instances has been largely retained. Psychoanalysis with its theoretical core came to full prominence in the last third of the twentieth century, as part of the flow of critical discourse regarding psychological treatments in the 1970s. Freud himself had ceased his Physiology, physiological research of the Neurology, neural brain organisation in 1906 (cf. Psychoanalysis#History, h ...
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Ronald Fairbairn
William Ronald Dodds Fairbairn (; 11 August 1889 – 31 December 1964) was a Scottish psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and a central figure in the development of the object relations theory of psychoanalysis. He was generally known and referred to as "W. Ronald D. Fairbairn". Life Ronald Fairbairn was born at the Red House, Cluny Gardens, in Morningside, Edinburgh in 1889, the only child of Cecilia Leefe and Thomas Fairbairn, a chartered surveyor, and president of the Edinburgh Architectural Association. He was educated at Merchiston Castle School and at the University of Edinburgh where he studied for three years in divinity and Hellenic Greek studies, graduating MA in 1911. In the First World War, he joined the Royal Engineers and served under General Allenby in the Palestinian campaign, and then the Royal Garrison Artillery. On his return home, he began medical training, probably inspired by his war experience. He received a doctorate in Medicine (MD) on 30 March 1929 ...
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Pleasure Principle (psychology)
In Freudian psychoanalysis, the pleasure principle () is the instinctive seeking of pleasure and avoiding of pain to satisfy biological and psychological needs. Specifically, the pleasure principle is the animating force behind the id. Precursors Epicurus in the ancient world, and later Jeremy Bentham, laid stress upon the role of pleasure in directing human life, the latter stating: "Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, ''pain'' and ''pleasure''". Freud's most immediate predecessor and guide however was Gustav Theodor Fechner and his psychophysics. Freudian developments Freud used the idea that the mind seeks pleasure and avoids pain in his ''Project for a Scientific Psychology'' of 1895, as well as in the theoretical portion of '' The Interpretation of Dreams'' of 1900, where he termed it the 'unpleasure principle'.''On Metapsychology'', p. 36. In the ''Two Principles of Mental Functioning'' of 1911, contrasting it with the reality prin ...
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Object Relations Theory
Object relations theory is a school of thought in psychoanalytic theory and psychoanalysis centered around theories of stages of ego development. Its concerns include the relation of the psyche to others in childhood and the exploration of relationships between external people, as well as internal images and the relations found in them. Adherents to this school of thought maintain that the infant's relationship with the mother primarily determines the formation of their personality in adult life. Attachment is the bedrock of the development of the self, i.e. the psychic organization that creates one's sense of identity. Theory While its groundwork derives from theories of development of the ego in Freudian psychodynamics, object relations theory does not place emphasis on the role of biological drives in the formation of personality in adulthood. This school of thought instead suggests that a person's pattern of relations to others as an adult is shaped by experiences of ...
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Thomas Ogden
Thomas Ogden (born December 4, 1946) is an American psychoanalyst and writer, of both psychoanalytic and fiction books, who lives and works in San Francisco, California. Biography Ogden received a BA from Amherst College, MA, and an MD from Yale, where he also completed a psychiatric residency. He served for a year as an Associate Psychiatrist at the Tavistock Clinic in London, and did his psychoanalytic training at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, where he has remained on the faculty. For more than 25 years he has served as Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of the Psychoses. He has also been a member of the North American Editorial Board for the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, the Psychoanalytic Quarterly, and Psychoanalytic Dialogues. Ogden is a supervising and personal analyst at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California. Work Ogden does not consider himself an advocate or an opponent of any particular school of psychonalysis. ...
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Introjection
In psychology, introjection (also known as identification or internalization) is the Unconscious mind, unconscious adoption of the thoughts or personality traits of others. It occurs as a normal part of development, such as a child taking on Parent, parental values and attitudes. It can also be a defense mechanism in situations that arouse anxiety. It has been associated with both normal and pathological development. Theory Introjection is a concept rooted in the psychoanalytic theories of Unconscious mind, unconscious motivations. Unconscious motivation refers to processes in the mind which occur automatically and bypass conscious examination and considerations. Introjection is the learning process or in some cases a defense mechanism where a person unconsciously absorbs experiences and makes them part of their psyche. In learning In psychoanalysis, introjection () refers to an unconscious process wherein one takes components of another Personal identity, person's identity ...
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Projective Identification
Projective identification is a term introduced by Melanie Klein and then widely adopted in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Projective identification may be used as a type of defense, a means of communicating, a primitive form of relationship, or a route to psychological change; used for ridding the self of unwanted parts or for controlling the other's body and mind. According to the American Psychological Association, the expression can have two meanings: # In psychoanalysis, projective identification is a defense mechanism in which the individual projects qualities that are unacceptable to the self onto another person, and that person introjects the projected qualities and believes him/herself to be characterized by them appropriately and justifiably. # In the object relations theory of Melanie Klein, projective identification is a defense mechanism in which a person fantasizes that part of their ego is split off and projected into the object in order to harm or to protect the ...
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Wilfred Bion
Wilfred Ruprecht Bion (; 8 September 1897 – 8 November 1979) was an influential English psychoanalyst, who became president of the British Psychoanalytical Society from 1962 to 1965. Early life and military service Bion was born in Mathura, North-Western Provinces, India, and educated at Bishop's Stortford College in England.Malcolm Pines'Bion, Wilfred Ruprecht (1897–1979)' ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edition, May 2007. . Retrieved 2008-09-10. After the outbreak of the First World War, he served in the Tank Corps as a tank commander in France, and was awarded both the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) (on 18 February 1918, for his actions at the Battle of Cambrai), and the Croix de Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. He first entered the war zone on 26 June 1917, and was promoted to temporary lieutenant on 10 June 1918, and to acting captain on 22 March 1918, when he took command of a tank section, he ...
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Fantasy (psychology)
In psychoanalytic theory, fantasy is a broad range of mental experiences, mediated by the faculty of imagination in the human brain, and marked by an expression of certain desires through vivid mental imagery. Fantasies are generally associated with scenarios that are impossible or unlikely to happen. Sexual fantasy, Sexual fantasies are a common type of fantasy. Conscious fantasy In everyday life, individuals often find their thoughts "pursue a series of fantasies concerning things they wish they could do or wish they had done ... fantasies of control or of sovereign choice ... daydreams." George Eman Vaillant in his study of defence mechanisms took as a central example of "an immature defence ... ''fantasy'' — living in a 'Walter Mitty' dream world where you imagine you are successful and popular, instead of making real efforts to make friends and succeed at a job." Other researchers and theorists find that fantasy has beneficial elements — providing "small regres ...
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Splitting (psychology)
Splitting, also called binary thinking, dichotomous thinking, black-and-white thinking, all-or-nothing thinking, or thinking in extremes, is the failure in a person's thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both perceived positive and negative qualities of something into a cohesive, realistic whole. It is a common defense mechanism, wherein the individual tends to think in extremes (e.g., an individual's actions and motivations are ''all'' good or ''all'' bad with no middle ground). This kind of dichotomous interpretation is contrasted by an acknowledgement of certain nuances known as "shades of gray". Splitting can include different contexts, as individuals who use this defense mechanism may "split" representations of their own mind, of their own personality, and of others. Splitting is observed in Cluster B personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, as well as schizophrenia and depression. In dissociative identity ...
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Margaret Mahler
Margaret Schönberger Mahler (May 10, 1897 in Ödenburg, Austria-Hungary; October 2, 1985 in New York) was an Austrian-American psychiatrist,Mahler Margaret, geb. Schönberger
University Vienna, Juni 15, 2022
, and pediatrician. She did pioneering work in the field of infant and young child research. On the basis of empirical studies, she developed a development model that became particularly influential in

Michael Balint
Michael Balint ( ; 3 December 1896 – 31 December 1970) was a Hungarian psychoanalyst who spent most of his adult life in England. He was a proponent of the object relations school. Life Balint was born Mihály Mór Bergsmann in Budapest, the son of a practising physician. It was against his father's will that he changed his name to Bálint Mihály. He also changed religion, from Judaism to Unitarian Christianity. During World War I Bálint served at the front, first in Russia, then in the Dolomites. He completed his medical studies in Budapest in 1918. On the recommendation of his future wife, Alice Székely-Kovács, Bálint read Sigmund Freud's "Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie" (1905) and "Totem und Tabu". He also began attending the lectures of Sándor Ferenczi, who in 1919 became the world's first university professor of psychoanalysis. Bálint married Alice Székely-Kovács and about 1920 the couple moved to Berlin, where Bálint worked in the biochemical lab ...
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