ABSTRACT
Although object relations theories differ from each other greatly, they all have a certain underlying conceptual framework. This chapter brings out that framework by constructing an object relations paradigm from psychoanalysis that shows the synchrony among the ideas shared among object relations theories.
The most fundamental tenet of object relations is the psychic unit composed of subject-affect-object, from which all human experience is derived. Children seek out an object for their experience. Simultaneously with birth, the infant seeks out an object with which to interact. The child engages the caretaker in a rhythmic interaction that constitutes a relationship with its own rules. The relationship the child develops with its mother becomes a template for further interactions.
It is this interaction between child and maternal figure, from psychologically without recognizing and responding to the infant’s facial expressions. That a dyadic relationship develops almost immediately between infant and caretaker that puts its mark on the infant’s life is a shibboleth of the analytic paradigm.
Several other central concepts of relational analysis are used and elaborated in the chapter. Defenses such as dissociation and enactment are given a prominent place in the exposition of the object relational framework.
