Mrs. Klein, the Contemporary Kleinians, and the Drives

Abstract

In 1983, Jay Greenberg and Stephen Mitchell published Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory. It brought Relational psychoanalysis, and the work of Sullivan and Object Relations analysts, more into the mainstream of Freudian psychoanalysis in North America. It was a significant effort to change the landscape of American psychoanalytic thinking and clinical work. This article looks at Greenberg and Mitchell's description of Melanie Klein's theories and her place in psychoanalytic thinking. The author suggests that Greenberg and Mitchell's focus on Klein and the drives limits our understanding of the far-reaching developments of Klein's clinical theory and method. The emphasis on Klein as another drive theorist who struggled with giving up the drives in favor of object relations, it is argued, minimizes the developments she fostered and lessens her significance as a major force in the world of psychoanalysis. The article describes the importance of Klein's clinical thinking and that of the Kleinians, its impact on the internal world and unconscious phantasy, and its clinical applications.