Psychoanalysis.  2019 Oct;30(4):89-97. 10.18529/psychoanal.2019.30.4.89.

Structural Diagnosis of Personality Pathology: Kernberg's Object Relations Model

• Lee IS

• KMID: 2464967
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.18529/psychoanal.2019.30.4.89

Abstract

This paper reviews the structural diagnosis of personality pathology based on Kernberg's object relations theory. It examines levels of integration of the five psychological structures such as 1) identity (sense of self and others), 2) major defense mechanisms (level of defensive operations), 3) reality testing, 4) quality of object relations, and 5) moral functioning. It is a diagnostic model that is especially valuable in identifying and differentiating the borderline personality organization (BPO). Patients organized at a low BPO level show severe identity pathology, splitting-based defenses, and unstable, highly affectively charged, polarized transferences, which significantly interfere with self-reflective capacity. For these reasons, it is suggested that psychoanalytic treatment should be modified to secure the therapeutic relationship and facilitate the integration of dissociated internal object relations in the here and now transference contexts.

Keyword

Structural diagnosis; Personality pathology; Object relations theory; Borderline personality organization

MeSH Terms

Defense Mechanisms
Diagnosis*
Humans
Object Attachment*
Pathology*
Reality Testing