Theories of Counseling:
Object Relations Theory
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Object Relations Theory
Basic Tenets
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Examines the relationship between and among people.
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Examines how the history of interpersonal relationships are transferred
from the past to the present through behavior.
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Looks at the primary caregiver (this is culturally defined and might be the
mother, father, grandparents, extended family or community.)
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Object Relations Therapy
Attachment Theory
Ainsworth
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Mother-infant relationship is the start of personality development.
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Significant elements of the personality carry forward into later life.
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Object Relations Therapy
Attachment Theory
John Bowlby
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Stresses the importance of the child developing in relation to the context
and environment.
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Provided theory of attachment.
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The child impacts the environment and the environment impacts the child.
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Attachment styles: Secure, anxious/resistant, anxious/avoidant.
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Securely attached children are able to successfully separate and
individuate.
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Object Relations Therapy
Theory of Personality
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Humans are born with autonomous motivation to relate to other people.
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Humans are born with a wide range of capabilities, possibilities and
capacities.
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Children who feel loved, prized, nurtured, feel secure and develops trust
for the caretaker, can internalize positive effects.
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Object Relations Therapy
Development of Personality
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The “other” person provides context and focus that the infant needs in his
or her early personality development.
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Context: the “arms-around holding” that the caregiver provides for the
infant.
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Focus: The direct” eye-to- eye” relationship that the caregiver provides
that the infant needs to relate to and think about experience.
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Object Relations Therapy
Development of Personality
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The caretaker becomes the object that nurtures the infant’s attachment.
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Without attachment formation, the infant will die.
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Personality is formed through interaction with others.
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The need for relationships throughout life is at the center of personality
development.
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Object Relations Therapy
Nature of Maladjustment
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Pathology is viewed in terms of developmental arrest.
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Developmental arrest results in unfinished, disorganized and unintegrated
parts of personality.
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Individuals can also become traumatized by early attachment
disturbances.
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Object Relations Therapy
Main Concepts
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Object: A person who provides gratification to the infant or person or with
whom a person relates.
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Object relations is essentially an individuals need of important others from
infancy to old age.
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Humans are essentially social and the need for relationships is at the core
of the self.
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Humans exist both in an external and internal world.
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Object Relations Therapy
Main Concepts
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The object that libido is continuously seeking is another human being.
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Motivation is understood in terms of striving for a relationship.
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Splitting: Infants who are exposed to a high degree of uncertainty and
stress may find it impossible to form an attachment. The infant then
separates everything bad from everything good.
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Object Relations Therapy
The Counseling Process
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Client/therapist relationship: Person-to-person relationship with the
therapist is crucial.
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Focus on the client: Therapists genuinely accept all clients and the
therapist follows the client’s affective lead.
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Transference is also important but it is less important than the quality of
the therapist/client relationship.
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The therapist shows deep empathy and attends to the client’s expressed
wish, dream or fantasy that brings understanding to an internalized
relational issue.
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Object Relations Therapy
Strategies for Helping Clients
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The therapist builds a relationship, shows empathic understanding,
concern and acceptance and tries to uncover meaning in the client's inner
world.
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The therapist works to create an environment in which the client can be
himself or herself and maintain autonomy.
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Once the bond and trust has been established, the therapist goes after
painful, guarded material to confront the client and help him or her better
gain self-understanding.
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Object Relations Therapy
Strategies for Helping Clients
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The therapist attends to the client’s inner world dimension (e.g. dreams,
fantasies, wishes and needs), looking for object relational issues.
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The therapist also attends to what the client says, what the client does not
say, and how the client reacts.
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Primacy of relationship is established over impulse and serves as the
central psychoanalytic rationale.
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Object Relations Therapy
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Object relations has deepened our understanding of humans and their
relationships.
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Object relations has transformed Western social policies (e.g. children are
placed in foster homes instead of impersonal institutions.)
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Object Relations Therapy
Disadvantages
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The model fails to account for certain needs of the client (e.g. the need to
be alone or to regress.)
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It may not work well with mandated clients or those who do not want to
explore themselves through the therapeutic relationship.
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It is considered to be culture-bound.
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Writings about object relations are complex and difficult to understand.
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Transference and countertransference don’t always allow a client to work
through difficult feelings.
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Object Relations Therapy
Use with Diverse Populations
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Some therapists believe that because object relations is about
relationships, it can adapt to other cultures.
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Many feel it is universal in the way it looks at things.
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It encompasses age, race, gender, nationality and socioeconomic status.
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Cultural differences are brought out in the open immediately.
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Object Relations Therapy
The Individual, Family and the Collective Cultural Unconscious
Taub-Bynum’s work discusses:
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Family and Culture: The family unit is the bearer of the culture. Family
and its function vary among different cultures.
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The Family and the Collective Cultural Unconscious: The family
unconscious is composed of emotional energy from earliest life.
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Therapeutic Implications: Clients often act out the family and cultural
unconscious.
Resources
Ivey, A. E., D’Andrea, M., Ivey, M. B. and Morgan, L. S. (2002). Theories of counseling
and psychotherapy: A multicultural perspective, 5th ed. Boston, MA.: Allyn &
Bacon.
James, R. K. & Gilliland, B. E. (2003). Theories and strategies in counseling and
psychotherapy, 5th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Kottler, J. A. (2002). Theories in counseling and therapy: An experiential approach.
Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
“Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2004”