Object Relations Theory

Human Development and Psychopathology
Object relations theory and therapy grow out of several principles of human development. The core of these principles is summarized in Fairbairn's belief that human development is a life long breaking away from the dependent bonds of early childhood to the adult states of mutuality and exchange. In other words, we spend much of our lives attempting to break out of the limitations of dependency to reach the autonomy of adulthood. Failure to break away from dependent bonds leads to psychopathology.

The process we use to attain the goal of adult autonomy is called separation-individuation, first developed by Mahler and later adopted by Kernberg and others. Within this model, the human infant moves from the early states of autism (withdrawal) and then symbiosis (with the mother) to a process of first separating from and then individuating from the primary caregiver. This separation-individuation process has many developmental tasks and physiological maturations during the first three years of life and ends with the child achieving "object constancy" (the ability to internalize the primary caregiver and hold that figure in memory), and "identity formation" (a blueprint for an identity or personality). These qualities of object constancy and identity are the basis of healthy functioning.

Trauma along the way (such as abuse) can lead to a pathological delay of the developmental sequence, with the result being the child never matures emotionally. Instead, the child is in a state of "identity diffusion" and lacks the ego strength necessary to form and maintain healthy relationships. This is the basis for personality disorders, such as the schizoid, the borderline and the narcissist. Eventually, the adult with this weakened sense of self repeats the traumatic pattern repeatedly through relationships with others with the hope of reaching a resolution. However, these attempts are futile because the immature self never develops sufficient "ego strength" to overcome the traumatic pattern. In addition, the people selected to relate to are themselves immature and tied up in their own destructive relational patterns.

From this perspective, psychopathology is the inability to overcome these developmental impasses and remain in a state of immaturity and resulting destructive relationships. Psychotherapy, in turn, is a process of overcoming these developmental delays and freeing the patient to go forward with his or her development. The role of the therapist is to provide an empathic "holding environment" within which the patient is able to resolve these destructive developmental impasses and move away from their dependency needs toward autonomy and full functioning adulthood. The section entitled "Resolving Human Conflict" discusses how to accomplish this through psychotherapy.