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Each chapter of this lively, thoughtful volume vividly demonstrates how the concept of object constancy may inform our daily clinical work with child and adult patients in terms of both normal and pathological development. The outgrowth of an international conference, the book's chapters are organized around presented papers, which expand the theoretical concept of object constancy and several discussions in response to them. The overall experience for the reader is of being drawn into a stimulating, challenging, yet respectful debate, whose dialogue takes as its point of departure the theoretical ideas, creative clinical applications, and unresolved questions raised by this conceptual expansion.
As both process and compromise formation, object and self-constancy are necessary underpinnings for optimal entry not only into the oedipal phase but also to the adequate development, integration, and consolidation of later phases of development. One very special and fascinating feature of this book is the inclusion of case material from Mahler's original separation-individuation study and long-term follow-up data, which beautifully illustrates