ABSTRACT

Susan Isaacs, one of Klein's earliest followers, was a child analyst. Her seminal contribution was "The Nature and Function of Phantasy", which to this very day remains the defining work on the subject (Isaacs, 1952). Paula Heimann's work on introjection, like Isaacs' on phantasy, remains the fundamental work on that subject. She also became a pioneer in finding that the analyst's own countertransference constituted an "analytic instrument" and was probably instrumental in Wilfred Bion's (1962a, 1962b) development of his theory of container/contained. Joan Riviere was another loyal follower of Klein's. Her contributions include the application of Kleinian theory to literary works. Herbert Rosenfeld represents the second Kleinian generation. He, along with Hanna Segal and Wilfred Bion, became a pioneer in the application of Klein's theories and technique to the treatment of psychotic patients.