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Reproach, though mutually painful, is an intensely experienced, and often tenaciously retained, form of interaction. Its intensity stems from mutually shared expectations in primitively organized object relationships. It may serve useful educative functions for the child, and may be the basis of severely pathological relationships in families, especially of schizophrenics.
The reproached individual, sensing the power of the reproacher's unfulfilled expectations and also fearing the threat of abandonment, is held in the relationship. Criticism is indirect and hostility denied by projection.
In depression self-reproach is against the internalized object and guarantees the maintenance of an archaic form of object relationship. Hostility toward the object may be expressed in suicidal threats; if these are directed to an external object, counterthreats often ensue. In therapeutic situations these may take some form of symbolic murder.
Therapeutic implications dictate careful interpretation of the hidden ploys used by the reproacher and that of guarding against hidden and hostile countertransferences. Failure to analyze the patient's reproach, implicit in the universal exaggerated expectations from the therapist, often leads to failure of therapy.