ABSTRACT
Object relations theory concerns itself with articulating how the interpersonal interactions with others are processed, internalized, and ascribed personal meaning, gradually evolving in an ontological, dialectical manner and constantly being transformed into complex cognitive schemata providing definition for the self and for others. This process continues and reveals, in the normal course of events, increasingly differentiated and modified representations of self and others, proceeding from birth onward and continuing well into adulthood (Westen, 1991b).
