306: Fairbairn and Borderline States
Instructor
Jonathan Koblenzer, M.D.
September 9 – November 4, 2024
Mondays, 8:35 – 10:00 pm
No class: 10/14
Co-requisites
Candidates must have or have had at least two cases in supervised psychoanalysis to be eligible for upper level courses.
Course Description
This course augments and supplements the material on the borderline state that is presented in other courses in the curriculum (e.g., those on TFP and Klein), with a focus on the contributions and influence of the work of W.R.D. Fairbairn. We will begin by reading the four canonical papers of the early to mid-1940s, illustrating the development of Fairbairn’s theory with clinical material from the class participants. We will then explore Fairbairn’s influence on such theorists as Klein, Kernberg, and Mitchell. The aim of the course is to learn to use Fairbairn’s novel object relations-based structural theory to understand and treat our patients. Third and Fourth year students combined.
Educational Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:
- describe the main features of Fairbairn’s psychoanalytic object relations theory
- understand how Fairbairn’s theory influences psychoanalytic therapy
- understand Fairbairn’s contribution to subsequent psychoanalytic theorists
Evaluation Method
Each student’s participation in class discussion and his or her demonstration of understanding of the course objectives and reading material is assessed in a written evaluation by the instructor(s).
These articles are protected under relevant copyright regulations. They are available in the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute Electronic Reserve for your convenience, and for your personal use.
READINGS ARE CONFIRMED.
I. Introduction
CLASS 1: September 9, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Reich., W. (1925). The Impulsive Character. (translated by Jonathan Koblenzer, MD)
Koblenzer, J. (2022). The Impulsive Character and its Infuence. In H.F. Nilsen (Ed.), Wilhem Reich and Psychoanalysis.
Glover E. ( 1932). A Psycho-Analytic Approach to the Classification of Mental Disorders. Journal of Mental Science, 78(323):819-842. [Read only the figures on pp. 828, 829, 832, 838]
II.
CLASS 2: September 16, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Fairbairn, W. D. (1952). Chapter I. Schizoid Factors in the Personality (1940). Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality, 7:1-27.
III.
CLASS 3: September 23, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Fairbairn, W. R. D. (1943). The repression and the return of bad objects (with special reference to the ‘war neuroses’). British Journal of Medical Psychology, 19, 327–341.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Beattie, H. J. (2003). ‘The repression and the return of bad objects’: W.R.D. Fairbairn and the historical roots of theory. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 84:1171-1187.
IV.
CLASS 4: September 30, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Fairbairn, W. R. D. (1941). A Revised Psychopathology of the Psychoses and Psychoneuroses. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 22:250-279.
V.
CLASS 5: October 7, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Fairbairn, W. R. D. (1944). Endopsychic Structure Considered in Terms of Object-Relationships. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 25:70-92.
Fairbairn, W. D. (1952). Chapter IV. Endopsychic Structure Considered in Terms of Object-Relationships (1944). Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality, 7:82-136. [Read ADDENDUM pp. 133-136]
VI. Clinical Case Discussion
CLASS 6: October 21, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Sutherland, J.D. (1963), Object-relations theory and the conceptual model of psychoanalysis*. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 36: 109-124. [Read especially pp.121-124]
VII.
CLASS 7: October 28, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Padel, J. (1991). Fairbairn’s thought on the relationship of inner and outer worlds. Free Associations, 2:589-615.
Padel, J. (1985). Ego in Current Thinking. International Review of Psychoanalysis, 12:273-283.
Mitchell, S. A. (1981). The Origin and Nature of the “Object” in the Theories of Klein and Fairbairn. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 17:374-398.
Robbins, M. (1980). Current Controversy in Object Relations Theory as Outgrowth of a Schism Between Klein and Fairbairn. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 61:477-492.
VIII. Clinical Case Discussion & Synthesis
CLASS 8: November 4, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Guntrip, H. (1975). My Experience of Analysis with Fairbairn and Winnicott—(How Complete a Result Does Psycho-Analytic Therapy Achieve?). International Review of Psychoanalysis, 2:145-156.