ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author explores the link between self-esteem and object esteem. She refers to the concept of self-esteem in Sigmund Freud's clinical work, and in the metapsychological paper 'Mourning and Melancholia', which she sees as a most significant watershed in relation to this concept. The authors' own suggestion is that the term 'object esteem' is intrinsically inherent to the new perspective on self-esteem opened up by Freud in 'Mourning and Melancholia'. She attempts to link her thoughts on this issue with some clinical material. In following the references to the concept of self-esteem in Freud's work the author finds a marked contrast between his technique in the clinical work and the theoretical formulations of 'Mourning and Melancholia'. She focuses on the theoretical exposition by describing some of her work with a patient whose poor self-esteem clearly mirrored a very poor 'object esteem'.
