ABSTRACT
Kleinian psychoanalysis is the name given to the school of psychoanalytic theory that has grown up around the pioneering work of the Austrian psychoanalyst Melanie Klein (1882-1960). Born in Vienna, Klein settled in England in 1926 and remained there for the rest of her life. Kleinian psychoanalysis first began to emerge as a distinctive school of psychoanalytic theory during the 1940s in opposition to the group which gathered around Anna Freud after the latter’s move to London. However, it was not until after the war that other analysts began to become known as ‘Kleinians’ and to develop a substantial body of Kleinian thought. These analysts included Hanna Segal, Herbert Rosenfeld, Wilfred Bion and (later) Donald Meltzer.
