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It has been recognized that siblings—their relationships, as well as the fantasies, envy, and rivalry aroused by them—have been relatively
neglected in psychoanalysis. The question has recently been raised as to whether completed analyses should always deal with the fantasies aroused by the relationships to siblings, as well as to parents and the oedipal situation. This article discusses the resolution in psychoanalysis of issues related to sibling relationships.
In analysis, a triangular space is formed by the patient, the analyst in transference, and the psychoanalytic setting; in this case, the latter includes in particular other patients, representing the patient's siblings or fantasies of siblings. The feelings and fantasies aroused by the other patients originating from sibling relationships in childhood can now be dealt with in analysis. The analyst, in helping the patient deal with his formerly repressed or denied fantasies, envy, and rivalry, will become a developmental object with whom the patient can identify in order to create a new psychic structure for thinking about ideas and feelings.