Klein object relations theory

It emphasizes that the infant drives are directed to an object.

-according to Klein - child see people as objects

Klein biograohy - born march 30, 1882, belived er birth was unplanned. Have
special fondness for her older sister Sidonie.

Freud - paternal; sexual

Klein -Maternal; contact

Psychic life of the infant

-the infant real or fantasized early relationship with the mother or the breast

~PHANTASIES
-psychic representations of unconscious id instincts.
- infants possess unconscious image of “good” and “bad”

OBJECTS
- are where drive and instincts are derived from

POSITIONS
- Klein use the term “positions” rather than stages of development to
indicate that positions alternate back and forth.
~BASIC POSITIONS
- Paranoid-schizoid position
- develop during rst 3 or 4 months of life, during which time the
ego’s perception of the external world is subjective and fantastic
- the persecutory feelings are considered to be paranoid.
-rage and destructive feelings are directed towards the bad
breast.
- Depressive position
- beginning about 5th or 6th months of life.an infant begins to
view external objects as whole and see that good and bad can exist in the same
time.
- Fearing the possible loss of the mother.
- depressive position is the feeling of anxiety over losing a loved
object coupled with the sense of guilt for wanting to destroy that object.

PSYCHIC DEFENSE MECHANISM

● Introjection
Infants fantasize taking into their body those perceptions and experiences
that they have had wit external object, originally the mother’s breast
They may introject both good and bad objects as a protection against
anxiety.
● Projection
Just as infants use introjection to take in both good and bad objects, they
use projection to get rid of them
By projecting unmanagable destructive impulses, infants alleviatethe
unbearable anxiety of being desoyed by dangerous internal forces
● Splitting
Infants can only manage the good and bad aspects of themselves and
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 external objects by splitting them.
Infants develop a picture of both the “good me” and the “bad me” that
enables them to deal wth both pleasurable and destructive impulses
towards external objects.
● Projective identi cation
Psychic defense mechanism in which infants split off unacceptable parts of
themselves, project them into another object, and nally introject them
back to themselves in a changed or distorted form.]

Internalization
1. means that the person takes in (introjecs) aspects of the external world and
organize those introjections into psychologically meaningful framework
● Ego - believed that ego, or one’s sense of self,reaches maturity at much earlier
stage that Freud had assumed
● Superego - Merges much easier ln life; Not an outgrowth of the Oedipus
complex; Much more harsh and cruel; early superego produces not guilt but
terror.
● Oedipus complex - begins during the earliest months of life. Children’s fear of
retaliation from their parent for their fantasy of emptying the parent’s body.
female Oedipal Development
If the female Oedipal stage proceeds smoothly, the little girl adopts a
“female” position and has a positive relationship with both parents.
The little girl will see her mother as a rival and will fantasize robbing
her mother of her father’s penis and stealing her mother’s babies.
Male Oedipal Development
A boy shifts some of his oral desires from his mother’s breast to his
father’s penis.
During this time, the little boy is in his “feminine position - he adopts a
passive homosexual attitude toward his father”.
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 Margaret Mahler’s View
● an individual’s psychological birth during the rst weeks of postnatal lie and
continues for the next 3 years or so.
Normal Autism - birth until about 3 or 4 weeks; a newborn infant satis es
various needs within the al powered protective orbit of a mother’s care.
Normal Symbiosis - 4th to 5th weeks to 4th to 5th months; Infants
gradually realizes that they cannot satisfy their own needs, they begin to
recognize their primary caregiver and to seek a symbiotic relationship with
her.
Separation-Individuation - 4th or 5ht month to 30th to 36th months;
children become psychologically separated from their mothers, achieve a
sense of individuation, and begin to develop feelings of personal identity.
Sub stages of Separation-Individuation
● Differentiation - 5th month until the 7th to 10th month
marked by a bodily breaking away from the mother-infant symbiotic orbit.
Infants smile in response to their own mother, indicating a bond with a
speci c other person
● Practicing - 7th to 10th months to about 15th to 16th months.
Infants physically begin to move away from their mothers by crawling and
walking
● Rapprochement - 16 to 25 months
children desire to bring their mothers by and themselves back together,
both physically and psychologically.
children of this age want to share with their mother every new acquisition
of skill and every new experience.
● Libidinal Object Constancy - 3rd year of life
Children must develop a constant inner representation of their mothers so
that they can tolerate being physically separate from her.

Heinz Kohut’s View

2 basic narcissistic needs
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 Need to exhibit the grandiose self - when the infant relates to a
mirroring selfobject who re ects approval of its behavior
Need to acquire an idealized image of one or both parents - implies
that someone else is perfect. “You’re perfect, but I am a part of you”
John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory
Three stages of separation anxiety
Protest stage - when caregiver is out of sight, infants will cry, resist
soothing by other people, and search for caregiver
Despair stage - separation continues, infants become quiet, sad,
passive, listless, and apathetic
Detachment Stage - infants become emotionally detached from other
people, including their caregiver
Attachment Theory based on two assumptions
Responsive and accessible caregiver (usually the mother) must create
a secure base for the child
A bonding relationship becomes internalized and serves as mental
working model on which future friendships and love relationships are
build.
Mary Ainsworth and the Strange Situation
● Three attachment style ratings
Secure - infants are con dent in the accessibility and responsiveness of
their caregiver
Anxious resistant - Infants give very con icted messages
Anxious avoidant - Infants stay calm when their mother leaves; they
accept the stranger, and when their mother returns, they ignore and avoid
her.

PSYCHOTHERAPY
1. Play therapy - substituted for Freudian dream analysis and free association,
believing that young children express their conscious and unconscious wishes
through play therapy.
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