When Relatedness is Damaged or Undeveloped: A New Consideration of the Link between Relational Psychoanalysis and Object Relations Theory

Abstract

The author discusses Lisa Director’s concept of being a catalyst, an enlivening presence, and Robert Grossmark’s concept of companioning, in their work with patients whom I think of as being in the autistic contiguous position. Director and Grossmark each provide a moving example of a long-term, successful treatment with patients who are often seen as unanalyzable and dismissed. These patients are very challenging, having great difficulty entering relationships; either floating through space in a dull, disconnected manner or violently crashing into others in order to make contact and maintain a minimal sense of cohesiveness and connection. I discuss these two exceptional clinical papers using object relations theory, which can provide a more generalizable approach to the treatment of such difficult patients.

Notes

¹ The concepts of symbolization and metallization are extremely similar concepts that derive from different theories developed at different points in time.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joseph Newirth

Joseph Newirth, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., is a Professor at the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University, in Garden City, New York, where he has taught and supervised graduate students for more than 30 years. He is the former Director of the Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy at Adelphi University. He has published and presented numerous papers integrating relational psychoanalysis, object relations theory, and clinical practice. His book Between Emotion and Cognition: The Generative Unconscious (2003; Other Press) received the Gradiva Prize. He is currently working on a new book, From Sign to Symbol: Transformational Processes in Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy and Psychology, which will be published by Rowman and Littlefield. His practice is in New York City.