Institute of Contemporary Weekend Program

OBJECT RELATIONS CORE SEMINAR

Friday, September 21, 2012 – Saturday, May 25, 2013 Fridays: 11:15am – 1:45pm Saturdays: 8:30am – 11:00am Lynda Chassler, Ph.D., Instructor & Coordinator

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Object relations theory addresses the observation that people live in two worlds simultaneously—the external world and the internal world with a co-mingling between the two. Individuals tend to act and react not only with an actual other but also an internal other, a psychic representation of a person which in itself has the power to influence both the individual's affective states and his or her behavioral reactions.

The evolution of has been subject to divergent theoretical perspectives which are complex and often difficult to integrate. This theoretical dissension has caused continued confusion and ambiguity with regard to the meaning and formation of objects in both the mental and psychological development of the individual. How does our internal world evolve? What motivates the person to seek an object—the gratification of instinctual wishes or the desire for relationships? How does the child's important early relationships become internalized and impact the person's on going relational patterns? These are just three of the numerous questions discussed by the different authors who have contributed to the development of object relations theory.

This course will compare and integrate the nature of the object, its origins and qualities, in the context of the formulations of these different theorists with a focus on their clinical applications.

To further help in your understanding of the ideas being developed in this course I am including the following supplemental readings from Greenberg and Mitchell. These readings are not required.

Supplemental Readings: Greenberg, M. & Mitchell S. (1983). Object relations theory in . Massachusetts & England: Harvard University Press.

Part One: Origins: Chapter 1: Object Relations and Psychoanalytic Models, (pp. 9-20). Chapter 2: : The Drive/Structure Model, (pp. 21-49)

Part Two: Alternatives Chapter 5 (pp. 119 – 150). Chapter 6: W.R.D. Fairbairn (pp. 151 – 187). Chapter 7: D.W. Winnicott and Harry Guntrip (pp. 188 – 230).

Part Three: Accommodation Chapter 10: & Otto Kernberg (pp. 304 – 348).

COURSE OUTLINE

WEEKEND 1: September 21st and September 22nd Instructor: Carol Mayhew, Ph.D., Psy.D. and Linda Chassler, Ph.D.

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September 21st Class Readings: Mitchell, S. (1993). “Introduction: Sophie and the Psychoanalytic Meat Grinder.” Hope and Dread in Psychoanalysis. New York: Basic Books.

Strenger, C. (1989). “The Classic and the Romantic Vision of Psychoanalysis.” International Journal of Psychoanalysis, pp. 593-610.

September 22nd Class Readings:

Lecture ( No Assigned Readings)

WEEKEND 2: October 27th and 28th Instructor: Karen Koch, Psy.D., L.C.S.W.

The Life and Work of Sandor Ferenczi

October 27th Class: Hoffer, A. (1991) “The Freud-Ferenczi Controversy: A Living Legacy.” International Review of Psycho-Analysis, 18: 465- 472.

Ferenczi, S. (1933). The Confusion of Tongues Between Adults and the Child International Journal of Psychoanalysis (1949). 30, 225.

October 28th Class: Ferenczi, S., “Child Analysis in the Analysis of Adults.” 1931.

Ferenczi, S. (1929). The Unwelcome Child and His Death Instinct, International Journal of Psychoanalysis (1929), 10, 125.

WEEKEND 3: November 30th and December 1st Instructor: William Rickles, M.D.

Klein and the Kleinians The mother of all object relations theories, Klein was the first to start at the beginning, according to Freud, “The first ego is a body ego”, and build an exceedingly deep and disturbing theory and technique for treatment of the deepest, most fundamental anxieties and strivings of the human psyche.

Ogden, T. "Instinct, Phantasy, and Psychological Deep Structure: A Reinterpretation of Aspects of the Work of Melanie Klein", Contemp. Psychoanalysis vol. 20, #49 PP.501-525.

Klein, M. et al., (1952) "Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms", Developments in Psychoanalysis pp. 292-320

Ogden, T. (1983) "The Concept of Internal Object Relations", IJP 64, pp. 227-241.

WEEKEND 4: January 25th and January 26th Instructor: Robin Cohen, Ph.D.

Readings for January 25th: Fairbairn, W.R.D. (1952) Repression and the return of bad objects. In Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality. London: Routledge. Chapter III, pp. 59-81.

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Fairbairn, W.R.D. (1952) Endopsychic structure considered in terms of object relationships. In Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality. London: Routledge. Chapter IV, pp. 82-136.

Guntrip, H. (1969) The schizoid personality and the external world. In Schizoid Phenomena, Object Relations and the Self. New York: International University Press, Inc. Chapter I, pp. 17-48.

Ogden, T.H. (2000, 1983) The concept of internal object relations. In J.S. Grotstein & D.B. Rinsley, Fairbairn and the Origins of Object Relations. New York: Other Books, 2000, pp. 88-111.

Readings for January 26th: Guntrip, H. (1969) The schizoid problem, , and the struggle to preserve an ego. In Schizoid Phenomena, Object Relations and the Self. New York: International University Press, Inc. Chapter II, pp. 49-86.

Guntrip, H. (1969) Ego weakness, the core of the problem of . In Schizoid Phenomena, Object Relations and the Self. New York: International University Press, Inc. Chapter VI, pp. 167-186.

Guntrip, H. (1969) Resistance, the self-induced blockage of the maturing process. In Schizoid Phenomena, Object Relations and the Self. New York: International University Press, Inc. Chapter VII, pp. 186-213.

Guntrip, H. (1969) The schizoid compromise and psychotherapeutic stalemate. In Schizoid Phenomena, Object Relations and the Self. New York: International University Press, Inc. Chapter IX, pp. 288-309. optional

(Guntrip, H. (1986) My experience of analysis with Fairbairn and Winnicott (How complete a result does psycho-analytic therapy achieve?). In Peter Buckley (ed.), Essential Papers on Object-Relations. New York: NYU Press, pp. 447-467.)

WEEKEND 5: April 5th and April 6th Instructor: Lynda Chassler, Ph.D.

The Major Contributions of D.W. Winnicott - Part Two: Transitional Phenomena and Creativity The concept of transitional phenomena refers to a dimension of living that belongs neither to internal or to external reality; rather, it is the place that both connects and separates inner and outer. Developmentally, transitional phenomena occur from the beginning, even before birth, in relation to the mother-infant dyad. As the infant begins to separate Me from Not-me, he makes use of the transitional object. This necessary developmental journey leads to the use of illusion, the use of symbols, and the use of an object. Transitional phenomena are inextricably linked with paying and creativity. There is located culture, being and creativity.

Readings: March 25, 2011 1. Winnicott, D.W. (1971) “Transitional objects and transitional phenomena” in Playing and Reality, London: Tavistock Publications, pp. 1-25. 2. Winnicott, D.W. (1971) “Creativity and its origins” in Playing and Reality, London: Tavistock Publications, pp. 65- 85.

The Effects of Environmental Failure (The Not-Good-Enough Mother): Psychopathology and Treatment – Part Three Winnicott’s view of psychopathology results from an insufficiently facilitating environment (parental deficiency), that causes the infant or child to react to environmental impingement, and thus arrests the maturational process. All later disturbances in his system involves impairment in the functioning of the self.

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Readings: March 26, 2011 1. Grolnick, S. (1990) “How to do Winnicottian therapy” in In One’s Bones: The Clinical Genius of Winnicott, D. Goldman (ed.) Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, pp. 185-212. 2. Little, M.L. (1990) “Psychotherapy with D.W.W., 1949-1955, 1957” in Psychiatric anxieties and containment, NJ: Jason Aronson, pp.41-71. 3. Winnicott, D.W. (1975) “Hate in the countertansference” in Through pediatrics to psycho-analysis, NY: Basic Books, pp. 194-203. 4. Winnicott, D.W. (1975) “The antisocial tendency” in Through pediatrics to psycho-analysis, NY: Basic Books, pp. 306-315. 5. Winnicott, D.W. (1975) “Metapsychological and Clinical Aspects of Regression within the psycho-analytic set-up” in Through pediatrics to psycho-analysis, NY: Basic Books, pp. 278-294. 6. Winnicott, D.W. (1975) “Ego distortions in terms of true and false self” in The Maturational Process and the Facilitating Environment, NY: Int. Univ. Press, pp. 140-152. 7. Winnicott, D.W. (1975) “Fear of breakdown” in The British school of psychoanalysis, G. Kohon (ed.) London: Free Association Books, pp. 173-182.

WEEKEND 6: May 24th and May 25th Instructor: William Rickles, M.D.

The work of Otto Kernberg

Readings: 1. Kernberg, O. F., (1984). Structural derivatives of object relations. In Object-Relations Theory and Clinical Psychoanalysis, New York: Jason Aronson, Inc., Chapter 1, pp. 23-83. 2. Kernberg, O. F., (1984). A psychoanalytic classification of character pathology. In Object-Relations Theory and Clinical Psychoanalysis, New York: Jason Aronson, Inc., Chapter 5, pp. 142-159.

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