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November 27, 1962. THOUGHTS ABOUT DEVELOPMENT AND INDIVIDUATION. Margaret S. Mahler, M.D.
In the Abraham A. Brill Memorial Lecture, Dr. Mahler reports on a systematic study of average mothers and their normal babies, ranging from six months to the second and third years of life. The central theme is the universal, lifelong, although diminishing, dependence of the child on the mother, from 'mother-infant symbiosis' to the separation-individuation phase.1
The particular need for this study is suggested by two of the author's fundamental hypotheses. First, a discrepancy between the biologically predetermined maturation of the ego apparatuses and the relative lag of development toward emotional readiness for separation-individuation results in separation which is experienced as a catastrophic threat, triggering 'psychotic' defense