Notes on Melanie Klein

 Notes on Melanie Klein - 1882-1960 

  Object Relational Theorist

 Psychopathology was based on intrapsychic and interpersonal events presumed to have occurred during the first year of life. Excessive innate aggression or the psychic reaction to aggression was the cause of severe emotional disturbances. Her analytic technique attempted to deal with these early intrapsychic forces and the interpretation of unconscious impulses.

She emphasized the importance of early object relations. Like Freud, she believed that aggression and libido are the two basic instincts. The aggressive instinct is an extension of the death instinct; libido is an extension of the life instinct. She believed that the ego did not exist at birth but only developed after. Both the instincts of aggression and libido developed after birth into unconscious fantasies, the beginning of self-defence against the primary objects, usually one of the parents. She believed that from the aggressive instinct, envy, greed, and jealously were developed.

 Envy is the angry feeling that someone else has what one desires; this is the withholding Mother in early life. Later in life, this envy is directed towards others. Jealousy is the fear of losing what one has, always develops in relational triangle relationships, the other threatens the supply of libido. The aggressive instinct is largely projected as paranoid fears. If it fuses with the libido, it gives rise to masochistic tendencies.

From birth, the ego attempts to preserve a view of itself as the only source of pleasure and positive feelings. All conflicts and tensions are projected onto others/objects that are seen as persecutory.

 If objects satisfy the infant, the life instinct is expressed and invested into outside objects, which is the basis for love and generosity.  A mental representation is internalized (the introject) of the external object and it is upon this that the self has a sense of itself as good. That good introject is then projected onto newly experienced objects, this being the basis of trust, which makes learning, and the accumulation of knowledge possible.

 Theory of the Ego

The ego is simply that which develops to maintain object relations in an integrative and synthetic way. Ego development arises out of anxiety, which is the ego response to the death instinct. Normal separation at birth or frustrations of bodily needs such as hungry gives rise to anxiety.

 The primary means for ego growth and ego defences are by projection and introjection. These two defenses integrate the ego and neutralize the death fear/instinct. When projection is used, because of inner tensions and fears as a result of painful external stimuli, paranoid fears develop.

 When introjections (internal mental representations) are used those objects become internalized as persecutory objects, hence the development of mistrust of others.

On the other hand projection and introjection of positive experiences give rise to the development of trust, which is the basis of ego growth.

 Religion calls these persecutory introjects the devil/satan, the secular world uses a variety of terms such as the labyrinth, the dark side, and the beast within.

The core defense of splitting is used to separate these persecutory introjections and projections away from the ego which gives rise to the dissociated processes (fantasies) to maintain a conscious sense of pleasure (pleasant experiences and emotions) but if this continues into adulthood, reality is poorly integrated as there is excessive use of splitting the bad-objects off by dissociation. This begins the process of the non-integrated self, the inauthentic self. The failure was the opportunity to experience ambivalence in object relations, the integration of good and bad aspects of the objects, to become secure in self-expression and the validation by the external object of the two basic instincts, love/hate, aggression/libido, here-in lies the concept of unconditional love which is the basis for trust in another.

 The major defensive operation of idealization occurs against aggressive impulses towards the primary love object in an attempt to preserve it as such. It satisfies the fantasy of unlimited gratification. If the aggressive impulses were expressed the ego would lose its primary source of validation and libido and collapse. In a way, it would be destroying itself. This defense preserves, now a fantasy, of the all-good internal and external object. If this is reinforced over time, this splitting through the use of idealization, there is an eventual denial of reality of the true nature of the relationship with the primary love object. Idealized external objects also protect against other persecutory objects. There is a flight towards an idealized inner good object, which protects it from reality at the cost of impaired reality testing. Example… used by abused women first in their relationships in early life and then into adulthood.

 Projective identification is another major defensive system used to rid oneself of bad introjections. The split-off part from the bad introject is now projected outwardly onto another more safe targets. This is used to expel the bad inner objects and the bad parts of us. This is the wellspring of violence and hatred towards others in our world. The person onto whom the projection of sadistic impulses is made becomes seen as a persecutor and must be controlled. Attempts to control the perceived persecutor then become a vehicle for the acting out of sadism against the imagined persecutor.

 Paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions:

These are a defensive constellation that develops out of the first yr. of life.

The paranoid-schizoid position is characterized by the defenses of splitting, idealization, projective identification, part-object relations and basic concern of persecutory anxiety about the survival of the self.

 In the depressive position, libido predominates over aggression, the infant recognizes that the Mother both gratifies and frustrates, and becomes aware of its own aggression directed towards her. If the child were to recognize the Mother as both good and bad it would make the child vulnerable to loss, especially a loss caused by the child's aggression. The mechanism of idealization of the good object (Mother) is used as a defense against the child's aggression towards her and its accompanying guilt. That sort of idealization leads to an overdependence on others. The bad aspects of needed persons are denied. Ambivalent feelings and dependence on others are denied; objects are omnipotently controlled and treated with contempt so that their loss does not give rise to pain or guilt.

 Her Superego Theory –

Development began during the depressive period; excessive superego pressures cause a regression to the paranoid-schizoid position. Guilt is a result of the sadistic urges attributed to that bad split-off introjections. The superego developed from split-off projected bad objects that were later introjected. The superego takes in those demanding, prohibitive aspects of those objects. The normal predominance of love over hate in the depressive position results in the internalization of mainly good objects into the superego. The good objects neutralize the bad inner objects. The superego ends up with demanding and persecuting qualities. These are derived from the persecutory introjects and from the demanding aspects of the idealized good parent. Through guilt or concern over the loss of parental love, the superego protects its introjected good objects. The more idealized the good objects contained in the superego, the more perfectionistic are the superego's demands. The idealization of good inner objects leads to good behavior and restitution for bad behaviour.

 As splitting decreases during the first year of life, the child becomes aware that the good and bad external objects are actually one. Infants then recognize their aggression towards the good object and also recognize the good aspects of persons whom they have attacked for being bad. That recognition undercuts the mechanism of projection. In addition, children become aware of their own bad internal parts and in contrast to the fear of external harm encountered in the paranoid-schizoid position, the primary fear in the depressive position is of harming the good internal and external objects, hence the need for the superego.

The primary emotional task of the depressive position is to deal with the ego's fear of losing the good internal and external objects. The corresponding emotional reactions are anxiety and guilt. Preservation of the good objects becomes more important than preserving the ego itself. Internalized bad objects that were formally projected make up the primary ego, which attacks the ego with guilt feelings.

Working through mechanism: increased reality testing, acceptance of ambivalence, gratitude, and mourning enable the child to work through the depressive period. If the child doesn't have the opportunity to run over and say to the parent "I'm sorry" and be emphasized, the guilt will continue over having attacked the good object.

Increased reality testing results from decreased splitting and the growing capacity to evaluate whole objects and the total self. Introjected objects are seen as whole and alive, instead of as autonomous fragments. Growing awareness of loving and hating the same person brings about the capacity to experience and tolerate ambivalence, optimally with a preponderance of love over hate. Klein believes that mourning normally reactivates the guilt of the depressive position.  The mother's position is to help the infant reconstitute and consolidate good internal objects that the Mother is still present even when the child feels aggressive towards her. Depression is the same as pathological mourning. Fixation at the depressive position can also develop the manic defenses.

 Psychopathology: Many types of severe psychopathology are attributes to fixation at one of the two Kleinian positions. Fixation in the paranoid-schizoid position leads to a number of psychotic states. Psychotic disorders in general deny reality, use projection extensively, and engage in splitting. There is an escape into as idealized inner object leads to autistic exalted states; generalized splitting and reintrojection of multiple, fragmented objects leads to confusional states. Predominant of of external persecutors is the hallmark of delusional disorders

 Projection of persecutors onto one's body results in hypochondriasis.

Schizoid personalities D/O are emotional shallow, intolerant of guilt, tend to experience others as hostile, and withdraw from object relations.

 Object relation theory looks at the processes as a projective and introjective cycle. Each cycle a new re-drawing of the boundary of the self to relieve anxiety yet sets off another, which is slightly less strong. Objects are seen as good or bad. They become the basic building blocks of the mind with which to operate resulting in a particular version of self and reality. In the beginning they are thought to be feeling states associated with attachments to real people and are gradually taken to be associated with representations in the mind of external objects. This is the self-structures a product of the internalization of attachments in the from of object relationships.

 Internal objects can be good or bad. Through projective identification the person can externalizes their internal conflicts. Their bad are projected outwardly. This is a defensive strategy against internal anxiety of annihilation or persecution, which help to stabilize the ego. The ego is the manager stabilizing the internal states. By projection the bad introject is externalized and is now contained inside the other person or institution. Similarly good objects are introjected into the person to constant anxiety and thus deal with it when it threatens to destroy the self from the inside. Containment is of enormous importance to the nurturing, helping and therapeutic relationship as it tames anxiety and enables its toleration.

 Objects can go both ways across this space, mediated by the ego. This is an intricate interplay over boundaries of the self. In a coercive environment the balance between good and bad objects is disrupted and consequently the ego strength and the development of the super-ego.