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IS THE ANALYST A GOOD OBJECT?
Author(s) -
Colman Warren
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
british journal of psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1752-0118
pISSN - 0265-9883
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-0118.2006.tb00287.x
Subject(s) - object (grammar) , psychology , object relations theory , relation (database) , social psychology , cognitive psychology , psychoanalysis , psychoanalytic theory , artificial intelligence , computer science , data mining
This paper suggests that the prohibition against ‘taking the role of the good object’ may inhibit therapists from an appropriate recognition of loving relation between the patient and themselves. It is argued that the prohibition actually refers to a defensive attempt to get the analyst to take the role of the idealized object as a defence against the emergence of bad objects in the transference. This clinical scenario is contrasted with one where the patient needs to find in their therapist a real good object who genuinely cares for them.