North American Object Relations Theorists and Attachment Theory

British object relations theory has influenced North American psychoanalysis over the last thirty years. In some cases (such as the Kleinian influence on Kernberg) this is openly acknowledged. In others (such as Winnicott’s influence on Kohut) this is left for the reader to discover. Here we will consider only three of the major North American object relations theorists from the point of view of attachment theory: Arnold Modell, Heinz Kohut, and Otto Kernberg.