
Handbook of Object Relations Theory
Description
This handbook is the first publication to offer a thorough overview of the fundamental principles of object-relations theory, the current mainstream approach to psychoanalysis worldwide. It offers a structured, easy-to-understand overview of modern psychoanalysis' central concepts. Each chapter is dedicated to an influential author who contributed to the development of object relations theory.
Starting with early pioneers such as Ian Suttie, Alfred Adler, and Otto Rank, it continues with psychoanalysts who established the object relations theory. These include Melanie Klein, Paula Heimann, Clare and Donald Winnicott. It also includes figures who built on object relations theory to create original contributions to clinical psychology. Examples are John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth's attachment theory, Peter Fonagy's concept of mentalization, and Otto Kernberg's transference-focused psychotherapy. The third part presents modern intersubjective approaches by Stephen Mitchell, Jessica Benjamin, and Donna Orange. These authors outline the direction in which object-relations psychology is set to develop. In these concepts, the other person is not merely an object that fulfills our wishes and desires but rather a subject with their own needs.
The Handbook of Object Relations theory is a comprehensive introductory text for those new to the field who wish to learn about the main currents in contemporary psychoanalysis. It is also useful for experienced practitioners who wish to revisit and deepen their understanding of certain aspects and for researchers and practitioners working with other approaches who wish to understand psychoanalytic concepts. This theory helps explain and transform a wide range of issues in contemporary clinical psychology.
"In the present volume, a comprehensive, clear, and fascinating description of the history of contemporary psychoanalytic object relations theory, the reader will find the discovery of the elements of this theory, the various theoretical and technical developments that these findings have originated." - From the Foreword by Otto F. Kernberg, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
This is an English translation of a book that was originally published in German. The original manuscript was translated into English with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision focused primarily on content.
More details
Person
Thomas Abel is a licensed psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, trauma therapist, ISTFP-certified therapist in Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP), group analyst, supervisor and training analyst. He is based in Berlin, where he works in private practice within the German public health system. He also teaches at several psychotherapy and psychoanalytic training institutes. Publication: "Resistance in Psychotherapy - The Eight Forms - Clinical Approaches and Meaning in the Therapeutic Process" (Springer 2026).
Content
Chapter 1: What is Object Relations Theory? History, Definition, Terminology, and Classification.- Chapter 2: Alfred Adler: The Earliest Object Relations Theory.- Chapter 3: Ian Suttie: The Origins of Love and Hate - The Forgotten Founder.- Chapter 4: Otto Rank: The Rejected Founder of Object Relations Theory.- Chapter 5: Sandor Ferenczi: No Healing Without Sympathy.- Chapter 6: Michael Balint: Primary Forms of Love.- Chapter 7: Melanie Klein: The Psychic Reality of the Internal Object World and Its Analysis in the Transference.- Chapter 8: Wilfred Ruprecht Bion: The Thinker Under Fire.- Chapter 9: Paula Heimann: A Brief Portrait of a Creative Clinician.- Chapter 10: Ronald Dodds Fairbairn: The Theorist of "Internal Object Relations".- Chapter 11: Clare and Donald W Winnicott: Reflections on Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena.- Chapter 12: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth: Attachment Theory.- Chapter 13: Joseph and Anne-Marie Sandler: Feeling of Safety, Internal Objects, and Role Responsiveness.- Chapter 14: Peter Fonagy: Mentalization.- Chapter 15: Horst-Eberhard Richter: A Psychoanalytic Theory of Family Entanglements.- Chapter 16: Luise Reddemann: Self-Parts and Inner Objects in Imaginations-An "Imaging" Technique in Psychodynamic Therapy.- Chapter 17: Harry Stack Sullivan: Interpersonal Theory of Development and Therapy.- Chapter 18: Margaret Mahler: Symbiosis and Individuation.- Chapter 19: Erik Homburger Erikson: Object Relations and Identity.- Chapter 20: Erich Fromm: A Social Object Relations Theory.- Chapter 21: Edith Jacobson: The Self and the World of Internal Objects.- Chapter 22: Heinz Kohut: Narcissism and the Self-Object.- Chapter 23: Lester Luborsky: The Concept of "Core Conflictual Relationship Theme" (CCRT).- Chapter 24: Otto F Kernberg's Object Relations Theory and His Expectations for Psychoanalysis as a Science.- Chapter 25: Thomas Ogden: The "Intersubjective Analytic Third".- Chapter 26: Stephen Mitchell: The Relational Matrix.- Chapter 27: Jessica Benjamin: Object of Gratification or Subject in an Encounter?.-Chapter 28: Recent Developments in Object Relations theory.