ABSTRACT
The views of the object-relations theorists in the Group of Independent Analysts have certainly affected the thinking of many in the Contemporary Freudian group. The extension of psychoanalytic concepts beyond their original meaning has been a frequent occurrence in the history of psychoanalysis, and this can serve a useful function in the advancement of psychoanalytic thinking. Phantasies in the past unconscious are those which are believed to occur in the first years of life, and which can be thought of as existing behind the so-called repression barrier. The phantasies or impulses arising in the present unconscious, to the extent that they arouse conflict, disturb the equilibrium of the present unconscious and, accordingly, have to be dealt with outside consciousness, have to be modified, disguised or repressed. The central point in the “stabilising” or “gyroscopic” regulation of unconscious phantasy is the maintenance of safety and well-being in the face of disruptive urges of various kinds.
