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During the last two decades the formulations and models of object relations have dramatically influenced the theory and practice of psychoanalysis. Beginning in the late 60s, the writings of Kernberg (1975) and Modell (1976) introduced to many psychoanalysts in the United States the ideas of the British School of object relations in conceptualizing therapeutic action, interaction, narcissism, and formulations of the self.
Interest in object relations was further embellished by additional developments within psychoanalysis. Mahler described the infant's immersion in symbiotic fusion and a gradual separation-individuation into selfhood. Self psychology, introduced by Kohut and his followers, conceptualized the centrality of the self in the psychoanalytic model and the value of the selfobject as an interactive extension of the self in maintaining the integrity of the self. Data derived from infant observation suggested an interactive loop between mother and infant as the basic motivational configuration and not a drive-motivated force. Furthermore, the burgeoning literature on the psychoanalytic treatment of severe pathological states (Kernberg, 1975; Pao, 1979; Frosch, 1983) focused on formulation of deficiencies and conflict linked to early object relations.
Recently, an entire issue of the Psychoanalytic Quarterly (1988,