ABD 7033

COUNSELING THEORY PSYCHOTHERAPY

SUBMITTED FOR,

PROF EMERITUS DATUK DR MIZAN ADILIAH BINTI

AHMAD IBRAHIM

TITLE :

OBJECT RELATION THEORY

SUBMITTED BY,

SITI ZUBAIDAH BT HUSSIN

3160103
Contents
OBJECT RELATIONS THEORY ................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 3

Central Concept .................................................................................................................................. 3

Nature of man ..................................................................................................................................... 6

How problems occur ........................................................................................................................... 7

How man handle the problem ............................................................................................................ 9

Goals of Object Relations Therapy.................................................................................................... 10

Object Relations Techniques............................................................................................................. 10

When is Object Relations Therapy Used? ......................................................................................... 11

How Object Relations Therapy Works .............................................................................................. 11

New Behaviour .................................................................................................................................. 12

Criticisms of Object Relations Therapy ............................................................................................. 12

References ........................................................................................................................................ 14

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 OBJECT RELATIONS THEORY

Introduction

Object Relations Therapy defines the development process between the psyche of the
client and how the individual relates to their environment. The theory itself explains that
individuals will create current relationships depending on the experiences they had as a child
with parents, siblings or guardians. This theory claims that social interactions the client had
as a child will eventually build a standard in the subconscious mind. This client will then
carry a standard or "object" around as an adult attaching it to every relationship or event. This
is a habitual pattern that forms within the client and it can affect their overall social health.

Central Concept

1. An object is that to which a subject relates. Michael St. Clair writes, "For example, I
love my children, I fear snakes, I am angry with my neighbor." Drives like those for
sex, hunger, and affection have objects. In object-relations theory, objects are usually
persons, parts of persons, or symbols of one of these.
2. Representation refers to the way the person has or possesses an object. Object
representation is the mental representation of an object.
3. An external object is an actual person, place or thing that a person has invested with
emotional energy.
4. An internal object is one person's representation of another, such as a reflection of the
child's way of relating to the mother. It is a memory, idea, or fantasy about a person,
place, or thing..(Some writers, like Melanie Klein, use the term "object" without
always stating whether it refers to a person or an inner representation.)

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 5. Self is an internal image. Conscious and unconscious mental representations of
oneself.
6. Self-representation is a person's inner representation of himself or herself as
experienced in relation to significant others.
7. Self-object is a loss of boundaries, where what is self and object are blurred and the
distinction between self and external object is not clear. (This condition is called
"confluence" in Gestalt Therapy.)
8. Part object is an object that is part of a person, such as a hand or breast. The other is
not recognized as a "whole object."
9. Whole object is another person who is recognized as having rights, feelings, needs,
hopes, strengths, weaknesses, and insecurities just like one's own.
10. Object constancy is maintaining a lasting relationship with a specific object, or
rejecting any substitute for such an object. Example of the latter: rejecting mothering
from anyone except one's own mother. Mahler: object constancy is "the capacity to
recognize and tolerate loving and hostile feelings toward the same object; the capacity
to keep feelings centered on a specific object; and the capacity to value an object for
attributes other than its function of satisfying needs."
11. Splitting is occurs when a person (especially a child) can't keep two contradictory
thoughts or feelings in mind at the same time, and therefore keeps the conflicting
feelings apart and focuses on just one of them.
12. Self-psychology big issue is the nature and kind of emotional investment in the self.
Narcissism plays a central role in the thinking of self-psychology. That is, the person
deals with objects as if they were part of the self, or in terms of the object performing
an essential function for the self. Such a distorted relationship requires a different
form of treatment from that of neurotics.

Objects can be represented as "good" or satisfying one's needs and desires, or "bad"
and not satisfying one's needs and desires. In short, object-relations is a way of
conceptualizing interpersonal relations and extending psychoanalytic thinking into the
interpersonal realm, but with a vocabulary that sounds rather odd to those not versed in the
theory. It looks for the basis of our ways of relating to others at an earlier stage of
development than did Freud, who emphasized the "genital stage."

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 Object relations is a variation of psychoanalytic theory that diverges from Sigmund
Freuds belief that humans are motivated by sexual and aggressive drives, suggesting instead
that humans are primarily motivated by the need for contact with others and the need to form
relationships.

Mellanie Klein focuses her theory primarily on development within the first year of
life, however emphasizes that these continue to develop throughout life. She came out with
unconscious phantasy, paranoid-schizoid position (newborn- 4-6 months) and the depressive
position (6 months +).

Unconscious phantasies serve as the basis for all future mental mechanisms. They are
defined as primitive internalized mental images of instincts and drives. Ultimately the unique
mental and emotional capacities of an individual result from the interaction of these
phantasies with actual experience, and the emotion that ensues. For example, the newborns
rooting reflex will only become a mental image, once the newborn finds the nipple and
begins nursing. The repetition of this activity over time forms a mental image accompanied
by the soothing emotions that ensue. Therefore, the degree of fulfillment of the infants needs
largely implicates self development.

Paranoid-schizoid position is of the understanding that during the first few months of
life the infant is in a state of anxiety, stemming largely from the death instinct (thanatos)[3]. In
order to cope with this anxiety, the infant utilizes the phantasies of splitting, projection
identification, and introjection. As the ego is still in a primitive state, the infant is unable to
maintain a unified mental image of the self or of others. Therefore, relationships are
maintained with parts of objects (e.g. breast rather than mother), and split between good and
bad. Thus, negative feelings are projected outward unto the mother, while positive sensations
are internalized in a process called binary splitting. This splitting ties the self to positive
sensations and thus forms the basis for the development of a positive self concept, more
suited to sustain negative aspects of the self as well. The infants state of mind is largely
characterized by omnipotence, of complete control over objects.

In categorizing objects as either good or bad, the infant in essence creates two
individual mental images of objects, existing as unrelated individual entities. For example,
the bad breast exists when the mother is unable to fill the infant needs immediately,
causing a desire to destroy this object. Meanwhile, the good breast exists when needs are

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fulfilled, causing feelings of love towards the object. The fact that all bad is projected
outwards, coupled with drives to destroy the bad, causes paranoia that the bad will return to
seek revenge. In order to cope with this paranoia, the infant begins a cycle where some
negativity is internalized in order to gain control of it, and some good is projected unto the
mother so that she could protect the infant.

These cycles of projection and introjection continue in the depressive position until
the infant comes to the understanding that the good mother and the bad mother are one. In
addition, the fragmented view of partial objects develops into the awareness of the object as a
single entity. Here begins a developing capacity to view the self and objects as including both
good and bad, thus forming the basis for an integrated ego. In other words, the mother who
frustrated the infant is the same mother who satisfied. Accordingly, the infant who desires to
destroy the mother is the same infant who loves her. The infant realizes, that the mother
whom he phantasized of destroying, is the same mother he loves. Rather than feelings of
anxiety which overwhelmed the infant during the previous state, the depressive position is
characterized by feelings of guilt, and of mourning lost omnipotence. The fear of being
destroyed is exchanged by the fear of destroying another. The infant thus engages in
reparation in an effort to restore and fix objects he phantasized destroying. This ability to
view the self and objects with complexity, and engaging in appeasement efforts is crucial for
the development of healthy relationships in adulthood.

Nature of man

This theory stated that human undergo three stages of personality development. In
stage I it is focus on infancy, breast feeding, and incorporation. The time of one's first object
relationship. Early oral- pre-ambivalent sucking or biting. Late oral--ambivalent sucking or
biting. In Stage II; Between infantile and mature dependence. Quasi-independence. In place
of directing both love and hate toward the original object, there is a loved or accepted object,
and a hated or rejected object. Four techniques for dealing with difficulties of the transition
stage include obsessional, paranoid, hysterical, and phobic approaches. Finally, the State III;
the Mature Dependence state. Dominant characteristic is an attitude of giving. This state
focus is on development of self-other differentiation and on the capacity for giving as well as
taking.

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 According to object relations theory, beginning during infancy, people develop
"internal representations" of themselves and of other people. Representations of the self
ultimately give rise to what is popularly known as the "self-concept." Similar representations
form as a means of organizing knowledge of other people. Though these representations are
of people, the psychodynamic tradition is to refer to them as "objects" thereby highlighting
the distinction between two people; the person of the self who is the observer, and the person
being observed, the object. Thus, a person's internal representations of self-and-other (self-
and-object) and their representation of how self-and-other get along are collectively known as
internal object relations. These object relations are seen as the building blocks organizing
people's internal life, including their motivations and behavior.

The information stored within internal object relations includes the emotional tone of
those relations; i.e., the emotional tone of what it is like for the self-and-other to interact with
each other. Though many emotions may occur within the context of a given relationship,
there is generally a dominant tone, or "affect" which reflects the way each relationship
usually feels.

How problems occur

As infants interact with their caregivers, they begin to form internal object relations to
represent these interactions. This experience is stored along with the intense emotional states
that accompanied these interactions with the "object" (caregiver). It is assumed that infants do
not yet experience nuanced emotions so these emotional states are generally of extreme
pleasure or extreme displeasure. It is during these intense emotional states that infants
develop a representation of self in relation to the other person (object). Depending on how
such interactions go, these representations can take different forms. An example would be a
representation of a terrified, weak self (the child) and a powerful, threatening object (the
caregiver) linked together through the affect of fear.

Although object relationships are based upon actual interactions, they are not
necessarily realistic and unbiased records of those interactions. Instead, they combine early
impressions and memories, with fantasized interactions with others. The factual and
fantasized information become blended together, all organized according to the dominant
affect that is characteristic of that relationship. Once formed, these object relationship pairs
(self-other dyads) function as templates through which later relationships may be understood.

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These internal object relation dyads are activated in future relationships and influence, or
even determine, how people will experience and relate to others. Thus, they function as a sort
of lens which colors people's perceptions and expectations of their future relationships.

In very early stages of infant development, it is thought that positively-toned object

relationships get built up separately from those associated with negative affect. Thus, an
infant would be expected to have two separate object representations for each object; for
instance, a good mommy object to store positively-toned affects and a bad mommy object
used to store negatively-toned affect. Over the course of normal childhood development and
maturation, these two polarized representations would normally be expected to integrate into
a single, more complex object representation containing both positive and negative affects
associated with mommy. In other words, it becomes understood that "good mommy" and
"bad mommy" represent the same person. Thus they become integrated into a single
representation. However, in some cases, this integration does not occur. This lack of
integration sets up a foundation upon which a personality disorder may occur.

The people in a relationship need to develop a tradeoff, ebb and flow, a give and take,
between subjects and object roles, each playing object to the others's subject/initiating, then
reversing. Alternating of subject and object roles are a vital structural component of both
personality and relationships. Problem occurs if a person lock himself or herself (or get
locked into) being consistently the subject or consistently the object.

A healthy relational engagement includes tuning into the partner's object-seeking

wants or needs.
Both partners discover themselves in part through dialogue with the other. For
example, playful boxing betwen father and sun is a friendly rather than destructive
encounter, with each offering himself to the other's aggressive needs.

Being the object. The other may be strongly invested in assigning an exclusively
object role to you. This may be done from an imperious authoritarian position, or from a
position of apparent victim who really controls the situation.

A person may be a "captive" of object-role assignment--unable to escape the assigned

role.

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 Being force-fed an object role impedes development of one's own autonomy, self-
support, and ability to tbe the subject.
A child may be fed a "parental" role, with the parent demanding to be taken care of
(physically or emotionally) rather than providing the child with the caretaking it
needs.
Someone to whom the subject role is denied may adopt a strategy of "passive-
receptive mastery" which involves developing strategies to influence powerful others.
Example: secondary gains from being sick.
There may be disregard for any individuality or autonomy among family members.
Member's will finish each other's sentences or claim to express other's innermost
feelings.

Being the subject. Rigid insistence on the subject role means trying to make
others comply with all one's needs.

The person who does this is a "taker" and never learns to give.
If two people in a relationship insist on doing this, they're in the dilemma of trying to
fit an interpersonal relationship into intrapsychic ones. Whoever succeeds in
transforming the other partner into a parent "wins" the object-role assignment game.
A sick adult may succeed in this through his suffering, the demanding family member
through guilt-arousing blame.
The person who gets "hooked" into the parental position of a parental object is the
loser in the contest, and catches the shit from everyone else.
A common transactional system between parents of a schizophrenic patient is
pointless, endless bickering. The deeper structure of this often infolve's their inability
to face their own (possibly unconscious) negative, critical attitudes toward their own
parents.

How man handle the problem

Fairbairn, 1954 believes that a man develop mechanisms to deal with difficulties
from frustrations or bad relationships. A man defensively internalizes what is bad or
frustrating in his or her environment. A man would rather become bad than have bad objects
in the environment, and so the man becomes "bad" by defensively taking on the badness that
appears to reside in the objects. The man seeks to make the objects in his or her environment

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good, purging them of their badness, by taking them on and making them part of his or her
own psychological structure. The price of outer security is having troubling bad objects
within; in other words, the world is good but now the man is "bad." Once the bad object is
within the man, he or she has to further defend against the internalized bad object by
repressing any awareness of the object or feelings about it.

Goals of Object Relations Therapy

During Object Relations Therapy treatment consists of various techniques used so that
the client holds a neutral position in how they view others. The goal is to see people and the
world around them in a neutral manner instead of attaching their world to this behavioral
object. The focus of treatment is to show the client that they can improve relationships and
interactions with others by removing the "object" that they naturally attach to events and
people. This object shapes how they act in relationships. When it is held in a negative manner
it could be detrimental to their happiness and health. By eliminating the standards and
allowing the client to see people and relationships in an unbiased way it will rid of their
conditioned perception.

The aim of an object relations therapist is to help an individual in therapy uncover

early mental images that may contribute to any present difficulties in ones relationships with
others and adjust them in ways that may improve interpersonal functioning.

Object Relations Techniques

Many of the techniques used in object relations therapy are similar to those employed
in psychoanalytic and other psychodynamic therapies. The primary distinction lies in the
therapist's way of thinking about what is happening in the therapeutic exchange. For example,
in classical psychoanalysis, transference tends to be carefully analyzed, as it is thought to
provide valuable information about the person in therapy. The object relations therapist,
however, does not typically view transference reactions as evidence of the person in therapys
unconscious conflicts. Rather, they are often seen as indications of the infantile object
relations and defenses that may be considered to be the root of the individual's problems.
In the initial stage of object relations therapy, the therapist generally attempts to understand,
through empathic listening and acceptance, the inner world, family background, fears, hopes,
and needs of the person in therapy. Once a level of mutual trust has been developed, the

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therapist may guide the person in therapy into areas that may be more sensitive or guarded,
with the purpose of promoting greater self-awareness and understanding.

During therapy, the behaviors of the person in therapy may help the therapist
understand how the person is experienced and understood by others in that persons
environment. Because the therapist is likely to react in such a way as to encourage insight and
help a person achieve greater awareness, an individual may strengthen, through the
therapeutic process, the ability to form healthy object relations, which can be transferred to
relationships outside of the counseling environment.

The success of object relations therapy is largely dependent on the nature of the
therapeutic relationship. In the absence of a secure, trusting relationship, people in therapy
are not likely to risk abandoning their internal objects or attachments, even if these
relationships are unhealthy. Therefore, it may be necessary for object relations therapists to
first develop an empathic, trusting relationship with a person in therapy and to create an
environment in which an individual feels safe and understood.

When is Object Relations Therapy Used?

Object Relations Therapy is used when an individual can no longer base their ideas or
wants off of something other than what this object is. It is a very common occurrence in those
who have experienced a traumatic relationship with parents or guardians. The interaction
created an "object" in their mind which is attached to every potential relationship and
circumstance. These objects may turn into an automatic response because it is a conditioned
attachment. Object Relations Therapy is used when the perception needs to be counteracted.
The time that it takes to reverse this will depend on the client and the trauma that is
associated with the object. When the therapist has eliminated the conditional way of thinking
and the client can begin controlling the way that they handle relationships or respond to
others, the treatment is deemed successful.

How Object Relations Therapy Works

This is a form of treatment that is similar to other methods of behavioral therapy.

Sessions consist of goals and a given structure. Instead of the therapist speaking to the client
in a subtle manner they will describe a problem and the goals that are associated with
treatment. When the counselor is framing the trauma or relationships the client is likely to

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experience some repressed symptoms or memories. The problems that this client may have
had with their parents or guardian will be assessed and the therapist will begin to discuss to
the patient how they can deal with the attachment that they have toward this "object."

While treating a patient's behavior the structure is essential in helping them create
goals and use the session time that they have effectively. Structure ensures that important
information hasn't been missed. During the first session a thorough diagnosis of past
relationships will be conducted. When the object of attachment has been found the therapist
will begin to teach the client how they can go about dealing with the symptoms which will
also eliminate judgment. Throughout treatment the therapist is going to be aggressive in
making progress and ensuring that the client understands the principles and coping
mechanisms. By the end of the treatment the individual should feel in control of how they
interact and judge circumstances within their environment.

The most difficult part of the therapy treatment is detaching the client from an object
that they have related everything to. This attachment has weighed them down and created the
world that they are now familiar with. The length of time that it takes the client to detach
themselves from the object will vary depending on the circumstances. The therapist will
know when a patient is ready depending on their level of confidence and how in control they
feel of their lives and relationships.

New Behaviour

Treatment involves rapport, transference, and regrowing or maturing. By the end of

treatment the ideas that they hold will be unbiased in nature. For example, after the treatment
a patient begins to feel that what he really needs is the basically non-erotic love of a stable
parent in and through which the child grows up to possess a maturing strength of selfhood
through which he becomes separate without feeling "cut-off" and the original relationship to
parents develops into adult friendship. Therapeutic change can only come about in, and as a
direct result of, a good-object relationship.

Criticisms of Object Relations Therapy

Criticism pertaining to Object Relations Therapy is the same objectivity toward

psychotherapy treatment. Some experts believe that there isn't enough experimental research.
Many have argued that during treatment too much research relies on clinical cases.

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 Early object relations therapists were criticized for underestimating the biological
basis of some conditions, such as autism, learning difficulties, and some forms of psychosis.
The value of object relations therapy in treating such conditions has been debated by many
experts. Modern object relation theorists generally recognize that therapy alone is not
sufficient for treating certain issues and that other types of therapy, as well as
pharmacological support, may be necessary in some cases.

A form of psychodynamic therapy, object relations therapy typically requires a longer

time commitment than some other forms of therapy. It may often last years, instead of
months. While this length of time may be necessary to address certain broad, deep-seated, or
long-standing concerns, briefer forms of therapy might be more appropriate for addressing
issues that developed more recently in a persons life or that have a narrower focus. Object
relations therapy can also become quite costly, due to its length.

Some individuals prefer a more solution-focused approach and may find it difficult to
work with the somewhat non-directive style of object relations therapy. Quick results may
also be desired in some cases, such as when a person experiences addiction or another
condition that may lead one to harm the self or others. The non-directive approach of object
relations therapy is not considered sufficient to deal with such an issue. Once critical
symptoms are dealt with, however, an individual may choose to engage in object relations
therapy to determine how past relationships with significant others might contribute to
present concerns.

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References

Fairbairn, W. R. D. (1954). The repression and the return of bad objects. In An object rela-
tions theory of personality (pp. 59-81). New York: Basic Books. (Original work published
1943)

Goldstein, E. G. (2001). Object relations theory and self psychology in social work practice.
New York: The Free Press.

Horner, A. J. (1991). Psychoanalytic object relations therapy. Lanham, MD: Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers.

James, R. K., & Gilliland, B. E. (2003). Psychoanalytic therapy. Retrieved from

http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/208/213940/psycho_therapy.pdf

Liebert, R. M., & Liebert, L. L. (1998). Liebert & Spiegler's personality strategies and
issues (8th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

Object relations therapy. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theipi.org/about-ipi/our-

mission/82-object-relations-therapy

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Scharff, J. S., & Scharff, D. E. (2005). The primer of object relations (2nd ed.). Lanham,
MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Schauer, A. H. (1986). Object-relations theory: A dialogue with Donald B. Rinsley. Journal

of Counseling and Development, 65, 35-39.

Theories of personality. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://highered.mcgraw-

hill.com/sites/0072316799/student_view0/part2/chapter5/chapter_outline.html

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