Object Relation Theory
Projective Identification copyright 1996 Hannah Fox, CSW, BCD
All rights reserved - may not be reproduced without permission of Hannah Fox
(hfox@object-relations.com)
This document can be found at: http://www.object-relations.com
This presentation will explore several concepts and techniques within the Object Relations theory of family therapy which, if understood, provides a framework for looking at couples and families. Before talking about this approach to family therapy, I would like to explain what object relations theory is all about.
Object Relations Theory was originated in England by a group of British psychoanalysts, including Klein, Balint, Fairburn, Winnicott, and Guntrip. Object relations theory was a
break …show more content…
In this sense, Freud's model considers relationships to be secondary.
In contrast, object relations theory maintains that the infant can relate to others at a very early age and that relationships with others are, therefore, primary. The drive to attach oneself to an object is considered to be the major motivating force.
Since we are talking about object relations theory, this is a good time to ask what an object is. In object relations theory, the word object is used with a very specific meaning. It's not literally a physical person, but an internal mental structure that is formed throughout early development. This mental structure is built through a series of experiences with significant others through a psychic process called introjection. Because an infant's earliest experiences are usually with its mother, she is usually the first internal object formed by the infant. Eventually, the father and other significant people also become internalized objects. Introjection, the process of creating internal mental objects, leads to another process called splitting. Splitting occurs because the infant cannot tolerate certain feelings such as …show more content…
As it turned out, the woman had been repressing her own ambition under pressure from a father who didn't believe women should work. This woman was quite intelligent and obtained a professional degree, yet she chose to stifle her ambition in order to please her father. She remained dependent on her father, both emotionally and financially.
The husband, my patient, was a professional but quite unambitious. His family's philosophy was that one is lucky to have a job and pay the bills. His father had held the same low paying job for twenty years although he, too, had a professional degree.
So why did these two people get married? Since it was unacceptable for her to be ambitious, the wife needed someone to contain those feelings for her. My patient was the ideal object because, although he had an inner ambition, he had no parental support for these strivings. Therefore, he was predisposed to accept and collude in his wife's projection. What is the effect of projective identification when a couple has children? The following example shows how parents use their children as
All rights reserved - may not be reproduced without permission of Hannah Fox
(hfox@object-relations.com)
This document can be found at: http://www.object-relations.com
This presentation will explore several concepts and techniques within the Object Relations theory of family therapy which, if understood, provides a framework for looking at couples and families. Before talking about this approach to family therapy, I would like to explain what object relations theory is all about.
Object Relations Theory was originated in England by a group of British psychoanalysts, including Klein, Balint, Fairburn, Winnicott, and Guntrip. Object relations theory was a
break …show more content…
In this sense, Freud's model considers relationships to be secondary.
In contrast, object relations theory maintains that the infant can relate to others at a very early age and that relationships with others are, therefore, primary. The drive to attach oneself to an object is considered to be the major motivating force.
Since we are talking about object relations theory, this is a good time to ask what an object is. In object relations theory, the word object is used with a very specific meaning. It's not literally a physical person, but an internal mental structure that is formed throughout early development. This mental structure is built through a series of experiences with significant others through a psychic process called introjection. Because an infant's earliest experiences are usually with its mother, she is usually the first internal object formed by the infant. Eventually, the father and other significant people also become internalized objects. Introjection, the process of creating internal mental objects, leads to another process called splitting. Splitting occurs because the infant cannot tolerate certain feelings such as …show more content…
As it turned out, the woman had been repressing her own ambition under pressure from a father who didn't believe women should work. This woman was quite intelligent and obtained a professional degree, yet she chose to stifle her ambition in order to please her father. She remained dependent on her father, both emotionally and financially.
The husband, my patient, was a professional but quite unambitious. His family's philosophy was that one is lucky to have a job and pay the bills. His father had held the same low paying job for twenty years although he, too, had a professional degree.
So why did these two people get married? Since it was unacceptable for her to be ambitious, the wife needed someone to contain those feelings for her. My patient was the ideal object because, although he had an inner ambition, he had no parental support for these strivings. Therefore, he was predisposed to accept and collude in his wife's projection. What is the effect of projective identification when a couple has children? The following example shows how parents use their children as