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DISCUSSION: Dr. Heinz Hartmann felt Dr. Greenacre's ideas were an enlargement of the psychoanalytic theory of early childhood and a contribution to the preoedipal phase of developmental psychology. He emphasized, however, that it is often difficult to discern the precise relationships between early childhood experiences and the form of the transference during adult analysis.
Dr. Margaret Mahler stated that overidealization has the aim of re-creating a 'new edition' of the toddler's delusion of closeness, glory, and power stemming from the separation-individuation phase. She felt that Dr. Greenacre's reconstructions of the development of the object relationship with the father constituted a classical contribution. One of the most significant points of the paper is the emphasis on the gap in our reconstructive and direct observational researches relating to the father's place in the very young child's intrapsychic development.
Dr. Joachim Flescher discussed related aspects of his various papers on anxiety and countertransference, emphasizing that repressed hostility in the child makes separation from the parents quite threatening. He described his views about analytic therapy requiring a triadic arrangement, with two analysts, one of each sex, as otherwise we force the patient to constrict his experiences into one 'transference groove'.
In closing, Dr. Greenacre expressed her appreciation of the discussants' contributions but emphasized her sharp disagreement with Dr. Flescher's views.