PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES relationships with these internally represented objects.

In
the United States, both approaches have recently given
way to an interpersonalist tradition that is principally
Psychoanalytic theory is a continually evolving body of concerned with the observable infant–caregiver rela-
knowledge, but the so-called genetic or developmental tionship and the vicissitudes of the social construction
point of view, which regards current functioning as a of subjective experience. Such approaches are generally
consequence of developmentally prior phases, has always referred to as relational theories.
been central. The notion that mental disorders could
be best understood as residues of childhood experiences Ego Psychology
and primitive modes of mental functioning was key to Heinz Hartmann
Freud’s thinking (Freud, 1905/1961), and a developmen-
tal approach to psychopathology has been the traditional Ego psychologists concentrated on the development of
framework of psychoanalysis. Each theory described here the adaptive capacities that children bring to bear on
focuses on particular aspects of development or specific their struggle with their biological needs. Hartmann’s
developmental phases and delineates a model of normal model (Hartmann, Kris, & Loewenstein, 1949) aimed to
personality development based on clinical experience. link drives and ego functions and to reveal how negative
interpersonal experiences could disrupt the development
of the psychic structures necessary for adaptation. He
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory also showed that regression (the reactivation of earlier
It was Freud who first linked mental disorders to child- structures) was the most significant constituent of psy-
hood experiences and occurrences in the developmental chopathology. Hartmann was one of the earliest theorists
process. One of the most important aspects of Freud’s to emphasize the complexity of the developmental process,
theory was his recognition of infantile sexuality. Freud maintaining that the reasons that a particular behavior
countered idealized perceptions of childhood innocence. persists are likely to be different from the reasons it
He viewed childhood as a period during which children originally occurred.
struggle to achieve control over their biological needs and Ego psychologists are also important for their identifica-
to make them acceptable to society through the microcosm tion of the omnipresence of intrapsychic conflict through-
of the family. Freud understood pathology as a failure out development and for their recognition that genetic
of this process. Childhood conflict was thought to create a endowment, as well as interpersonal experiences, may
persistence of the problem, aggravated by current life pres- be crucial in determining a child’s developmental path
sures and generating significant anxieties that could only (an idea that is partially reflected in the developmental
be resolved by so-called neurotic compromise: partially psychopathological concept of resilience).
succumbing to infantile sexual demands, while simultane-
Anna Freud
ously engaging in a self-punishing struggle against these
demands. Freud’s final model went beyond sexual concerns Ego psychologists were among the earliest to investigate
and posited aggressive or destructive motives independent development by means of direct observations of children.
of sexual drives. These motives confront children with a Child analysts discovered that children’s personality traits
further developmental task of accommodation: having to and symptoms are rarely consistent across childhood,
gradually tame natural destructiveness in order to protect revealing that symptomatology is a dynamic phenomenon
against long-term psychic pain. Freud and many of his that overlays and is interwoven with a basic developmen-
followers considered genetic predisposition to be a crucial tal process. Anna Freud’s developmental theory arose from
factor in abnormal reactions to socialization experiences. her studies of disturbed and healthy children in situations
of intense social stress. She identified many of the charac-
teristics that would subsequently be linked to resilience.
Beyond Freud: Some General Comments
Her research showed that children in concentration camps
The post-Freudian models of development that dominated could ensure their physical and psychological survival by
the second half of the past century of psychoanalytic the social support that they gave one another. Similarly,
thinking fall into three broad categories. In the United it showed that children’s distress levels during the Lon-
States, ego psychology broadened Freud’s most complex don Blitz were predicted by their caregivers’ anxieties
model of the mind—the structural theory of id, ego, and that these children were typically more fearful of the
and superego—to incorporate a concern with adaptation threat represented by separation from their parents than
to the social world in addition to the intrapsychic of objective danger. Her emphasis on the protective power
world. In Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, of social support and the detrimental effect of parental
object-relations theories were primarily concerned with pathology in the context of coping with threat or danger
internal representations of the parental figures and has been substantiated by recent research with children
the fantasies that individuals can have about their experiencing severe trauma.

The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, edited by Irving B. Weiner and W. Edward Craighead.
Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
2 PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES

Anna Freud was also one of the first theorists to capacities of infants. However, developmental research
recognize the importance of an equilibrium between devel- appears surprisingly consistent with some of Klein’s
opmental processes (Freud, 1965). Her research helps to claims concerning perception of causality and causal
explain why children deprived of certain capacities by reasoning. Kleinian developmental concepts have gained
environment or constitution are at increased risk of psy- popularity because they provide powerful descriptions
chological disturbance. She was the first psychoanalyst to of the clinical interaction between both child and adult
place the process and mechanisms of development at the patients and their psychoanalyst. Post-Kleinian psycho-
center of psychoanalytic thinking. Her approach defined analysts such as W. R. Bion have emphasized the impact
abnormal functioning in terms of its deviation from normal of emotional conflict on the development of cognitive
development, while at the same time using the under- capacities.
standing gained from clinical cases to elucidate the process
of normal development. In this sense, her approach is very
W. R. D. Fairbairn and D. W. Winnicott
much one of developmental psychopathology. It is a logical
extension of her work to explore the therapeutic process Studies of severe character disorders by the object-
in developmental terms, too. relations school of psychoanalysts in Britain have shown
early relationships with caregivers to be a crucial factor
in personality development. W. R. D. Fairbairn focused
Margaret Mahler
on the individual’s need for the other (Fairbairn, 1952),
Margaret Mahler was a pioneer of developmental obser- instigating a shift in the focus of psychoanalytic attention
vation in the United States. Her observations of the that culminated in the self emerging as a central part
ambitendency of children in their second year of life threw of the psychoanalytic model, notably in the work of
light on chronic problems of consolidating individuality. Winnicott (1971). Winnicott’s notion of a self-defensive
Mahler highlighted the paradox of self-development: that caretaker or false self that may emerge as a response to
developing a separate identity involves forfeiting a gratify- a trauma occurring at the stage of absolute dependency
ing closeness with the caregiver (Mahler, 1968). Mahler’s has become a crucial developmental construct. His
model stresses the importance of the caregiver in facili- notions of primary maternal preoccupation, transitional
tating separation. The pathogenic potential of withdrawal phenomena, the holding environment, and the mirroring
of the mother, when confronted with the child’s wish for function of the caregiver provided a clear research focus
separateness, helps to account for the transgenerational for developmentalists interested in individual differences
aspects of psychological disturbance. in the development of self structure (Fonagy, Gergely,
Jurist, & Target, 2002). Winnicott emphasized the trau-
matic effects of early maternal failure and the importance
Joseph Sandler
of maternal sensitivity for the establishment of a secure
In the United Kingdom, the most successful integra- relationship. Developmental studies of psychopathology
tion of the developmental perspective with psychoana- have continued to validate these claims in many respects
lytic theory is Joseph Sandler’s development of Anna and have consistently affirmed the significance of the
Freud’s and Edith Jacobson’s work. Sandler’s framework parent–child relationship.
allowed developmental researchers to integrate their find-
ings within a psychoanalytic formulation that clinicians
could also use. Central to his formulation is the represen-
Heinz Kohut
tational structure containing both reality and distortion, Heinz Kohut’s theories relied heavily on his investigations
which is the driving force of psychic life. Sandler was of narcissistic disorders. His work represents one of
innovative in positing affects, as opposed to drives, as the many attempts by North American theorists to integrate
organizers of human motivation. Crucial to his theory is object-relations ideas into models that retain facets of
the concept of background of safety (Sandler, 1987): the structural theories. Perhaps his most significant contribu-
idea that the individual’s primary aim is to experience a tion to developmental psychology was his assertion of the
feeling of security, meaning that circumstances that are need for an understanding caregiver to counterbalance
familiar will often feel safer, even if they are objectively the infant’s sense of helplessness in its biological striving
adverse. for mastery. Indeed, Kohut asserted that understanding
objects was important throughout life, a claim that is
Object-Relations Theories bolstered by increasing evidence from epidemiological
studies of the protective effect of social support. In
Melanie Klein
Kohut’s theory—which borrowed freely though largely
The developmental model constructed by Melanie Klein without acknowledgment from Winnicott and British
initially occasioned severe criticism, because of its object-relations theorists—the mirroring object becomes a
apparently excessive assumptions about the cognitive self-object, and the need for empathy drives development,
 PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES 3

culminating in the attainment of a cohesive self. Drive is shaped by these expectations. Bowlby’s developmental
theory becomes secondary to self theory, in that the failure model highlights the intergenerational transmission of
to attain an integrated self-structure both leaves room for internal working models, and a growing body of empirical
and generates aggression and isolated sexual fixation. research has confirmed this phenomenon.
Numerous theories have drawn heavily on the develop-
Otto Kernberg mental research tradition, combining attachment theory
ideas with psychoanalytic conceptions within a general
Kernberg’s contribution to psychoanalysis is unsurpassed systems theory frame of reference. A book by Daniel Stern
in recent history. His systematic integration of structural (1985) has been among the most significant in this regard.
theory and object relations theory (Kernberg, 1987) is More recently, Peter Fonagy and colleagues have proposed
probably the most frequently used psychoanalytic devel- a developmental model in the relational tradition that has
opmental model, particularly in relation to personality its origins in attachment theory but is also heavily influ-
disorders. His understanding of psychopathology is devel- enced by object-relations theories (Fonagy et al., 2002).
opmental insofar as personality disturbance is understood Mentalization-based theories emphasize the emergence of
to reflect the individual’s failure to develop adequate the self as an experiential agent of change rather than
means of addressing intrapsychic conflict, beyond the as a representation. They suggest that, before the self is
most primitive defenses of early childhood. Kernberg’s experienced as a thinking and feeling entity, there exists
exceptional commitment to operationalizing his ideas dis- an intersubjective self that acquires understanding of its
tinguishes his models from many psychoanalytic theories own functioning through the reactions of the caregiver. A
and has rendered them open to empirical investigation. secure, playful relationship with attuned caregivers who
have the child’s mind in their mind enables the child to
Beyond Object Relations arrive at mentalization, which involves thinking of the
other and the self as motivated by mental states. If this
Relational Theories relationship is disrupted (for example, by maltreatment or
The opening up of psychoanalysis to psychologists and the child’s constitutional problems), mentalization will not
other nonmedically qualified professionals and the declin- be fully achieved, resulting in severe attachment-related
ing influence of ego psychology cleared the way for a new personality problems.
intellectual approach to theory and technique. The rela- All psychoanalytic formulations assume a causal
tional approach is arguably rooted in work by Harry Stack link between psychopathology and developmentally prior
Sullivan and Clara Thompson in the United States and phases. In recent years, psychoanalytic theories have been
John Bowlby in the United Kingdom. The former gave rise criticized for depending too much on single case studies
to the interpersonalist approach (Mitchell, 1988). This and for the deficit in reliable empirical evidence to back
approach challenges traditional conceptions of the rela- up their assertions. However, cognitive and neuropsycho-
tionship between analyst and subject, as based on the logical research has produced a rapidly increasing body
doctor–patient structure, envisaging it instead as a rela- of information with relevance for psychoanalysis. We
tionship between equals. This approach emphasizes the have reached a time when the appropriateness of many
interpersonal character of the sense of self and stresses psychoanalytic ideas may well become more evident, as
the influence this characteristic has on the therapeutic we discover more about brain function.
process. The insistence of many interpersonalists that However, changes in the way psychoanalytic knowl-
enactments by the analyst within the therapy are almost edge is gained must occur if psychoanalysis is to have
as inevitable as those by the patient in the transference has a future role in the mind sciences. Psychoanalysis must
been particularly controversial. This tradition has lacked limit the assumptions it makes about normal develop-
a significant developmental approach until recently. ment, while simultaneously enhancing the effectiveness
of its interface with other relevant disciplines. Should
psychoanalysis succeed in meeting the challenges that
John Bowlby
integration with cognitive psychology and neuroscience
Bowlby’s cognitive-systems model of the internalization of would involve, then it could prove to be of great value
interpersonal relationships (internal working models) has to developmental psychopathology. This is particularly
been highly influential. His work developed the emphasis true of the fundamental psychoanalytic developmental
of object-relations theories on the importance of the secu- assumption that the representations of unconscious beliefs
rity of early relationships. His theory holds that children’s and affects that individuals construct in early life help to
expectations regarding a caregiver’s behavior and their shape their later behavior and experiences. Psychoana-
own behavior develops from their understanding of expe- lytic theory remains relevant, and its capacity to enhance
riences of previous interaction. The child’s behavior with our understanding of development and psychopathology
the attachment figure (and, by extension, with Others) has yet to be fully exploited.
4 PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES

REFERENCES Sandler, J. (1987). From safety to the superego: Selected papers of

Joseph Sandler. New York: Guilford Press.
Fairbairn, W. R. D. (1952). An object-relations theory of the personality.
Stern, D. N. (1985). The interpersonal world of the infant: A view from
New York, Basic Books.
psychoanalysis and developmental psychology. New York: Basic
Fonagy, P., Gergely, G., Jurist, E., & Target, M. (2002). Affect Books.
regulation, mentalization and the development of the self. New York:
Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Playing and reality. London: Tavistock.
Other Press.
Freud, A. (1965). Normality and pathology in childhood: Assessments
of development. Madison, CT: International Universities Press. SUGGESTED READINGS
Freud, S. (1961). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. In J. Bronstein, C. (Ed.). (2001). Kleinian theory: A contemporary perspec-
Strachey (Ed. & Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psy- tive. London: Whurr.
chological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 7, pp. 123–230). London:
Cooper, A. M. (Ed.). (2006). Contemporary psychoanalysis in America:
Hogarth Press. (Original work published 1905)
Leading analysts present their work. Washington, DC: American
Hartmann, H., Kris, H., & Loewenstein, R. (1949). Notes on the Psychiatric Press.
theory of aggression. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 3–4,
Fonagy, P., & Target, M. (2003). Psychoanalytic theories: Perspectives
9–36.
from developmental psychopathology. London: Routledge.
Kernberg, O. F. (1987). An ego psychology-object relations the-
ory approach to the transference. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 51, PETER FONAGY
197–221. University College London, United Kingdom
Mahler, M. (1968). On human symbiosis and the vicissitudes of indi-
viduation. New York: International Universities Press. See also: Ego Psychology; Object Relations Theory;
Mitchell, S. A. (1988). Relational concepts in psychoanalysis: An inte- Personality, Psychodynamic Models of
gration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.