E-Book Overview
The ways in which an individual (the subject) relates to and perceives other people (his or her 'objects') has always been a preoccupation of psychoanalysis and in recent years a plethora of concepts has grown up in the literature. In this ground-breaking study, Meir Perlow sets out to clarify the changing meanings of the different concepts from context to context, discussing in depth the theoretical issues underlying them. The book begins with an historical survey of how mental objects have been understood in the various 'schools' of psychoanalysis as they have developed. These include Freud and his associates, the object-relations approaches of Klein, Fairbairn and Bion, orientations derived from ego psychology such as those of Schafer and Kernberg, and the self orientation of Winnicott and Kohut. In Part Two the author discusses the conceptual and clinical issues involved in the major differences between the concepts. Finally, in Part Three he delineates three basic meanings of the concepts of mental objects as they have emerged in the literature and shows how they are related to ongoing issues in contemporary psychoanalysis. This long overdue clarification of a complex area, with its wide ranging and imaginative grasp of the different theories about objects, will be an invaluable reference for all psychoanalysts and psychologists.
E-Book Content
Understanding Mental Objects The ways in which an individual relates to and perceives other people (his or her ‘objects’) has always been a preoccupation of psychoanalysis and in recent years a plethora of concepts has grown up in the literature. In this groundbreaking study, Meir Perlow traces the major theoretical developments regarding mental objects and sets out to clarify the changing meanings of different concepts from context to context. The book begins with an historical survey of how mental objects have been understood in the various schools of psychoanalysis. These include Freud and his associates, the object-relations approaches of Klein, Fairbairn and Bion, orientations derived from ego psychology such as those of Schafer and Kernberg, and the self-object orientation of Kohut. In Part Two the author discusses the conceptual and clinical issues involved in the major differences between the concepts. Finally, he delineates three basic meanings of the concepts as they have emerged in the literature and shows how they relate to ongoing debates in contemporary psychoanalysis. This long overdue clarification of a complex area, with its wide-ranging and imaginative grasp of the different theories about objects, will be an invaluable reference for all psychoanalysts and psychologists. Meir Perlow Ph.D., is Senior Clinical Psychologist at Eitanim Psychiatric Hospital, Jerusalem. He was formerly a lecturer in psychoanalytic theory at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and now conducts a variety of seminars on psychoanalytic subjects. THE NEW LIBRARY OF PSYCHOANALYSIS The New Library of Psychoanalysis was launched in 1987 in association with the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, London. Its purpose is to facilitate a greater and more widespread appreciation of what psychoanalysis is really about and to provide a forum for increasing mutual understanding between psychoanalysts and those working in other disciplines such as history, linguistics, literature, medicine, philosophy, psychology and the social sciences. It is intended that the titles selected for publication in the series should deepen and develop psychoanalytic thinking and technique, contribute to psychoanalysis from outside or contribute to other disciplines from a psychoanalytical perspective. The Institute, together with the British Psycho-Analytical Society, runs a low-fee psychoanalytic clinic, organizes lectures and scientific events concerned with psychoanalysis, publishes the International Journal of Psycho-Anal