Sidney J. Blatt, PhD: His Contributions to Formulating Progress in Psychoanalysis

Blatt’s novel model of therapeutic action is among his most significant contributions to psychoanalytic theory. Together with collaborator Rebecca Behrends, their reformulation offered a unique integration of both key historical traditions and psychoanalytic developmental theory and research. Inspired by the work of their mentor and colleague Hans Loewald, they viewed internalization as the over-arching principle of psychic development throughout the life cycle. Applying a Piagetian framework, they view internalized object relations as becoming progressively more differentiated, articulated, and integrated, facilitating increasingly more advanced ego development and mature relatedness. Unlike many of their predecessors, Blatt and Behrends regarded the parent’s resonance with the child as necessary, but not sufficient. Drawing on the work of George Klein, they posited that inevitable cycles of gratifying involvement, tolerable moments of experienced incompatibility, and the restitution of attunement are the fundamental catalyst for internalization and psychic advancement. Analogously, Blatt and Behrends proposed a model of therapeutic action that parallels these developmental cycles. Through accurate and empathic transference interpretation, the analysand internalizes the analyst’s reflective functioning and psychological growth is kindled. Challenging the dominant zeitgeist of the time, they argued that the mutative effect of analysis depends equally on the cycles of gratifying involvement and interpretation. An extended clinical vignette illustrates the power and utility of the Blatt-Behrends model to formulate the course of a challenging yet productive analytic process. The significance and continued vitality of their novel, integrative model is discussed. Further theoretical questions, both developmental and technical, are raised for future consideration.