Techniques in Kleinian Psychoanalysis

Woo, Ieehyok

Abstract

When Melanie Klein's ideas about psychoanalysis were first introduced, they immediately stirred the considerable controversy over their effectiveness and appropriateness. It is also well known that it led to the intense debate between the so-called contemporary "Freudians" and "Kleinians", the two prominent schools in the British Psychoanalytic Society for the following several years in the 1940s. Despite the attention, the "Kleinian analysis" has never been clearly defined, nor has it been distinctly differentiated from other analytic schools. It is believed, however, that Kleinian analysts employ different techniques, some of which are regarded by analysts in different schools as "harmful" to patients or their analytic progress. These controversial points are related to: the timing of so-called "transference interpretation"; their emphasis on "here and now" situation; diminished value on reconstruction during the course of analytic work. In my view, it is mainly the Kleinian analysis' conceptual or theoretical differences that contributed to the development of its characteristic techniques. Melanie Klein has known to have developed her technique for analytic work with children, while maintaining traditional analytic values. She came to explore "primitive defenses" during the preverbal period, which Freud had never observed directly. The direct experiences with children and new findings enabled her to challenge Sigmund Freud's theory and his technique and were eventually developed into new ideas. In my view, however, Kleinian analysts would still argue their techniques are not deliberate diversion from the traditional analytics, but designed simply to meet traditional analytic goals.