Object relations theory: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:08, 11 May 2025

Revision as of 20:36, 12 May 2025

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==History==

The initial line of thought emerged in 1917 with [[Sándor Ferenczi]]. Subsequently, early in the 1930s, [[Harry Stack Sullivan]], established what is known as interpersonal theory.<ref>Ogden, T. (2005). ''This Art of Psychoanalysis: Dreaming undreamt dreams and interrupted cries''. NY: Routledge. (p. 27).</ref> British psychologists [[Melanie Klein]], [[Donald Winnicott]], and [[Harry Guntrip]], Scott Stuart, and others{{Who|date=June 2023}} extended object relations theory during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1952, [[Ronald Fairbairn]] formulated his theory of object relations.<ref name=":2">Fairbairn, W.R.D. (1952). ''Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality''. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981.</ref>

The term has been used in many different contexts, which led to different connotations and denotations.<ref name=":0" /> While Fairbairn popularized the term "object relations," Klein's work tends to be most commonly identified with the terms "object relations theory" and "British object relations," at least in contemporary North America, though the influence of the [[British Independent Group (psychoanalysis)|British Independent Group]]—which argued that the primary motivation of the child is object seeking rather than drive gratification<ref>Glen O. Gabbard, ''Long-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy'' (Washington, DC 2010) p. 12</ref>—is becoming increasingly recognized.