ABSTRACT
In the opening chapters of this book we looked at the hopes and fears that might be brought to the casework relationship. Because such expectations are deeply influenced by earlier relationships, we studied the roots of positive and negative feelings and the conflicts arising from them in infancy and childhood. Klein did not put forward a completely new theory of development, rather she has extended and deepened the work of Sigmund Freud and Karl Abraham. She stressed the role of phantasy in building up an inner world, the interaction of internal and external factors; she differentiated between two main kinds of anxiety and found that these, and envy, profoundly affect the development of the individual's personality structure and relationships from the beginning of his life. It gives us an understanding of why some individuals do not reach the optimum of their potential. While anxiety, if not excessive, stimulates development,- intolerance to mental pain or exposure to too much pain too early forces the individual to adopt defences against anxiety which lead to inhibition, impoverishment, maladjustment or mental ill-health. The result is suffering for the person himself, or his environment, or both.
