Biomedical subjects
D E Scharff
Publications and source records attributed to D E Scharff.
Object relations couple therapy.
The authors describe Fairbairn's view of the personality as a system of parts of self and object in dynamic relation, formed in the context of dependent early relationships and replayed in the intensely intimate and physical relationship of marriage. Through Klein's concept of projective identification, a spouse finds lost parts of the self in the partner, where they may flourish and be reintegrated into the self or they may be held hostage. Marriage is an opportunity for reworking the dynamic relation of parts of the self as they are modified through mutual unconscious interaction with the spouse, but it may become a closed system that inhibits growth of the individual partners. Object relations couple therapy aims to breach the closed system of the unhappy marriage, and offers an enlarged space for understanding that encourages the spouses to provide a better holding environment for each other. Not directive, didactic or symptom-focused, object relations therapy values affect, silence, body language, fantasy, dreams, and transference phenomena as necessary for reaching the unconscious in order to achieve insight. The object relations therapist interprets defenses against anxieties that underlie repetitive patterns of unhelpful behavior, and works toward understanding. As the clinical vignettes show, therapists use countertransference to understand the couple's shared transference from inside their experience. The engine of therapeutic change in this model is the therapist's self. The process of therapy improves the couple's capacity for containing each other's projections instead of refusing to resonate with them or being overtaken by them to the detriment of the self. A cycle of regression and progression in the couple's ability for containment is found as therapy proceeds. The goal of therapy is to enable the projective and introjective identificatory system of the marriage to function with greater concern for the other and respect for the self.
From instinct to self: the evolution and implications of W. R. D. Fairbairn's theory of object relations.
The authors argue that fifty years after the initial publication of W. R. D. Fairbairn's object-relations theory of the personality, his ideas have moved to the centre of psychoanalysis and provide the most cogent theoretical rationale for many modern concepts of technique and the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis. In particular, Fairbairn centred object-relations theory on the person's need for relationships from infancy and throughout life, and gave the first detailed description of the sequential processes of internalisation of the rejecting object, followed by splitting of the ego and repression of painful internal object relations. He described the way these processes led to the organisation of the ego as an internal system of subegos and part objects (which are actually organisations of the ego, too) which are always in dynamic interaction with each other and which determine the quality of external relationships. This paper draws on Fairbairn's early writings, many of them recently published for the first time, to describe the origin of Fairbairn's ideas in his study of philosophy, to outline his theory of object relations, and to consider current developments and applications of these ideas in psychoanalysis and beyond.
The early phase of treatment: an object relations approach.
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Truth and consequences in sex and marital therapy: the revelation of secrets in the therapeutic setting.
This paper describes the development by the author and his colleagues of a policy of full revelation of secrets between spouses as a prerequisite to offering sex and marital therapy. This stand is controversial, for it directly contradicts the advice and practice of many sex and marital therapists. The exploration of this therapeutic position by therapists who are firmly convinced of the need for sexual and emotional commitment, but who will not themselves betray confidences, has offered crucial new opportunities to couples. For example, many couples have been able to confront the self-serving aspects of the wish to "protect" the other partner from knowledge that would in reality subject both partners to risk and a sense of vulnerability. Remarkably, there has not been one casually in the series of more than 30 cases. Marital and sexual case illustrations, alternate methods of handling such secrets, and a discussion of the course of subsequent treatment are considered.
Sex is a family affair: sources of discord and harmony.
Sexuality is a central source of communication and growth in the development of relationships between an individual and his parents, spouse, and children. It is both a vehicle for and manifestation of crucial interpersonal links. In the physical sense, this is seen when the adolescent or adult's physical sexual expression is evidence of closeness to another and it also a way of achieving such closeness. In the psychological sense, sexual behavior in current relationships may be hindered by carrying the image of internalized aspects of past relationships; it may also afford a new setting for further work on them. This paper explores family aspects of sexual issues in several areas, demonstrating that when sexual dysfunction represents the distillation of a couple's relationship to their own parents, successful resolution of their own sexual relationship may be a crucial first step in rebuilding family harmony and providing a culture of intimacy for their children.