Chapter 11.Object Relations Theory

This chapter introduces readers to Object Relations Theory. It outlines the basic assertions of this model of the mind, comparing it with previous models. It discusses some famous object relations theories, pointing to similarities and areas of overlap with neighboring disciplines and fields of research. Finally, it explores the contributions of Object Relations Theory to our understanding of psychopathology and treatment. Vocabulary introduced in this chapter includes the following: Adult Attachment Interview, attachment, attachment behavioral system, attachment theory, borderline personality organization, co-created experience, container/contained, corrective emotional experience, countertransference, depressive anxiety, depressive position, differentiation, envy, good-enough mother, holding environment, identity diffusion, individuation, internal working models of attachment, interpersonal, Mentalization-Based Treatment, midlife crisis, need-satisfying object, object, object permanence, object relations, on the way to object constancy, paranoid position, part object, persecutory anxiety, position, practicing, rapprochement, rapprochement crisis, representation, schema, schizophrenogenic mothering, self constancy, separation, separation-individuation, Strange Situation, therapeutic alliance, Transference-Focused Psychotherapy, and whole object.