ABSTRACT
This chapter describes object-relations theory as the struggle for predominance of one of the two different types of thinking mixed and confused together in psychoanalysis from its earliest beginnings in the work of Freud. Object-relations theory, or to use the American version, “Interpersonal-Relations Theory,” is the emancipation of Freud’s psychodynamic personal thinking from its bondage to his natural-science, impersonal, intellectual heritage. The institutionalization of psychoanalytic training and the organization of associations designed to maintain the purity of theory and the status of its practitioners have been most damaging to the prospects of an ultimate personality theory based upon psychodynamic principles. It is certain that the essential contributions of Freud which relate to the dynamic concept of personality development, the influence of early experiencing the role out-of-awareness factors in human behaviour, and the technique for exploring introspective and subjective experiencing will remain. The practical consequences of Freud’s instinct theory are serious for psychotherapy.
