You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
This paper focuses on Christopher Bollas's contributions to the understanding of transformations in object usage. Bollas has delineated numerous kinds of object usage but has not described the possible transformations that could occur as a result of psychotherapy. The author examines conservative and terminal objects, on the one hand, and transformational objects, on the other hand, as signifiers for the kinds of transformation that are likely to occur in psychotherapy. Two vignettes informed by Bollas's ideas will illustrate how the therapist can facilitate the patient's use of the therapeutic environment that ‘transforms’ rather than ‘conserves’ or ‘terminates’ psychic evolution. The author describes how Bollas draws from diverse theoretical sources, particularly from Freud, Winnicott and Bion. The author also suggests that unrestricted use of different theoretical frameworks is consistent with Bollas's favoring free movement between different modes of interpretation. It is argued that this flexibility of moving between modalities is indeed the chief distinguishing characteristic of Bollas's therapeutic style.