Mahler's concept of separation-individuation has not yet been sufficiently compared with reconstructive analytic material. It has also not been comprehensively discussed from a metapsychological point of view and related to the drive development of the toddler. In spite of this, the concept of separation-individuation has greatly furthered our understanding of early personality development and has been related to mental processes in later developmental phases.

Some authors view adolescent developments as a second individuation (Blos, 1967), i.e., a form of developmental repetition. Some suggest that the term individuation cannot be applied to adolescence (Schafer, 1973) since the giving up of love objects differs from the initial emergence of self and object representations. Clinically there are many similarities and parallels between the toddler and