William Ronald Dodds Fairbairn (1889-1964) was a noted Scottish psychoanalyst and is generally regarded as the father of British object relations theory. Building upon Freudian notions of the unconscious and the internal representations of external objects, Fairbairn formulated a dynamic model of the intrapsychic relationships that function beneath human awareness. In describing the "endopsychic structure", Fairbairn was able to depict a system of fragmented egos and their corresponding affects. Further elaboration on these internal objects, provided a framework from which analysts could understand normal human development as well as the genesis of psychopathology. Psychoanalysis from an object relations perspective is a process of understanding how and why an analysand's object relations exist in the present and how they affect current interpersonal relationships. The therapeutic benefit of psychoanalysis comes from one's insight into one's unconscious processes, self-defeating patterns of behavior, and internal dialogs with the self. Because the endopsychic structure is thought to form very early in life and in response to experiences (both gratifying and frustrating) with our primary caregivers, particular emphasis is placed upon a patient's early childhood history. It is only after a careful analysis of one's history, that the endopsychic structure becomes clear to the analyst. From there, the task of "working through" one's issues (ie. coming to understand what has been unconscious) is guided by the analyst's techniques of free association, dream interpretation, and the interpretation of present behavior and affects. Because, the endopsychic structure is thought to function as a basic template for human interaction, the analyst (or psychodynamic therapist) experiences the patient's "transference" or patterned behaviors forged so many years prior. Transference phenomena when correctly observed can be a vital clue into a patient's psychological functioning because it demonstrates the dynamics of the endopsychic structure in session. 1889 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ... Psychoanalysis is the revelation of unconscious relations, in a systematic way through an associative process. ... Object relations theory is the idea that the ego-self exists only in relation to other objects, which may be external or internal. ...
Although, Fairbairn's initial papers describing object relations appeared in the 1940's, his influence continues to be felt within the field of mental health by all practitioners whether they are classically trained psychoanalysts or generic counselors.
Father of the BritishpoliticianNicholas Fairbairn. A politician is an individual involved in politics. ... Sir Nicholas Fairbairn (died 1995) was a Conservative Party MP for Perth, Scotland, elected in 1974, 1979, 1983, 1987, and 1992. ...
Fairbairn's theory of self is, therefore, "relational" in precisely the way described by Mitchell (1988), in which the interpersonal and the intrapsychic realms create, interpenetrate, and transform each other in a subtle and complex manner.
Fairbairn discussed at great length the process by which the psyche of the infant, due to some intolerable inability to cope with the unsatisfying aspects of experience, internalized this experience in such a way ultimately as to eventuate in the establishment of certain endopsychic structures.
Fairbairn's assertion here is that good objects are never structurally internalized, which follows directly from the fact that there would be no explanation for the repression (which is the essential ingredient of the formation of endopsychic structure) were it not for the intolerable "badness" of the experience with an object.
Fairbairn extends the term schizoid to include all the psychoneuroses, saying that the presenting neurosis whether hysterical, phobic, obsessional or anxiety states are all configurations or defences against the underlying schizoid state.
Fairbairn refers to schizophrenia where there is a gross substitution of thought for feeling and if feeling is expressed it is usually out of keeping with ideas or as he says in catatonic states emotional expression assumes the form of sudden and violent outbursts.
Feeds |
Contact