A critical review of object relations theory

Article Abstract:

The object relations theory in psychology holds that individuals develop in relation to the people around them; that the central element of personality development is the need to attach meaningfully to other people, with pathology arising from frustration within an emotionally depriving environment. For example, if parental empathy is inadequate, increased frustration may lead to increased internal aggression and a defective self-soothing ability, resulting in an ongoing desperate search for external sources of self-esteem. The drive theory focuses on how expression of drives, not needs, in childhood contributes to psychological development, maturity being the result of the unconflicted expression of these drives. An understanding of the modern notions of projection, countertransference and splitting all developed out of object relations. In projection, the individual sees an aspect of the self in another, the object, identifies with it and attempts to control it. In countertransference, the person may provoke feelings in the other so as not to feel alone and overwhelmed by his or her own feelings. Splitting arises from the inability to deal with the anxiety of harboring both negative and positive attitudes toward the same individual, perhaps as a result of inadequate parental empathy and appropriate responsiveness. These all result in boundary blurring between the self and the object. The object relations of adult psychiatric patients are similar to those of children at various levels of development. Maturity allows the person to recognize and integrate the contradictory good and bad qualities of each relationship. All object relations theories stress the internalization and externalization of relationships in development and all psychological change. This article critically reviews the many historical contributions of the object relations theory to understanding psychology, and examines the still unclear aspects and contradictions, such as the lack of the ability to explain the effects of cognitive and physical factors upon object relations.

Psychological aspects, History, Countertransference (Psychology), Personality, Personality (Psychology)

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Biological priority and psychological supremacy: a new integrative paradigm derived from process theory

Article Abstract:

Process theory, as adapted for psychiatry, proposes that reality is an energetic process, which encompasses, not contradicts, the relationship of oneness, opposition and conflict, and creativity. The coexistence of harmony and conflict moves process; and since opposites coexist in every process they also represent union. This theory of the union of opposites suggests that conscious and unconscious processes are similar and synergistic, each stimulating the other. Since conflicts and oppositions exist throughout nature, contradictions and antagonisms will coexist in the mind, in both the conscious and unconscious realms, not just the unconscious as proposed by Freud. Distinct from linear concepts of development which view emotional dysfunctions as deficits in self-esteem, a model based upon process theory would suggest that these dysfunctions signify the existence of contradictory self-esteem and inadequate development. An uninterrupted evolution is naturally cyclical. Since evolution proceeds from the biological to the social to the psychological, process theory implies that social factors should be given importance in understanding the pathogenesis of illness, away from the individualistic approach. Family therapy should be used more frequently and earlier than individual therapy.

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