Object Relation Theory Essay

Object Relations theory, one of the many theories falling under the psychoanalytic umbrella, focuses on interpersonal relationships. Object relations theory is interested in how people interact with one another, particularly within one’s family, primarily the mother-infant relationship. In this theory, the object is often the significant person that is the object of another person’s feelings or intentions, again primarily focused on the mother as the object for the child. Object-relations theorists examine interpersonal relationships from the past, often focusing on the mother-child, in order to determine how one is impacted in the present. These theorists examine one’s self-image and how this is portrayed within interpersonal situations in the present. Object-relations theorists believe that the mother-infant relationship, or whoever the primary caregiver is, is central to the formation of one’s personality development. This theory posits that the need for this attachment relationship leads to the development of the infantile self. A central focus of this theory is that of the internal object. Different theorists within …show more content…
The true self leads to the infant feeling real. The infant can feel creative and spontaneous. The false self focuses on complying with the wants of the attachment figure thus focusing on their needs rather than the self. The true self develops when one experiences “good enough mothering” as he or she is able to develop omnipotence and feel that he or she is real and has control over the world around him or her to make things happen. The false self develops when the mother is either “too good” of a mother or is not good enough. When the mother is not in tune with the child, he or she is left feeling empty, or feeling unreal whereas if the mother is too good the child fails to develop a sense of true self, believing one to be an extension of the