Michael Balint Object Relations Theory And Practice

Balint is a famous psychoanalyst of Budapest School, the outstanding representative of the Independent School of British Object Relation of Psychoanalysis. He introduced the theory of primary object-love which made him one of the forerunners who examined mother-infant relations. He postulated that primary object-love was the earliest primary object relation which was the basis on which the individual would develop two secondary object relations of primary forms, i.e. ocnophilia and philobatism. Balint denied Freud's theory of primary narcissism, and suggested that narcissism and hate were secondary to primary object-love. Moreover, he also presented the three areas of the mind, i.e. the area of creation, the area of the basic fault and the area of the Oedipus, in which the area of the basic fault was his focus. He assumed that the basic fault was resulted from the collapse of primary object-love.On the psychoanalytic therapy, Balint developed the concept of therapeutic regression by dividing regression into two types of benign and malignant one according to the different aims, and believing that only benign regression was helpful therapeutically. He emphasized the significance of object relation in the clinical therapy, and insisted that both interpretation and object relation were important therapeutic agents. Furthermore, he paid attention to the therapeutic value of the patient's non-verbal transference and attached importance to the analyst's creation and maintenance of a proper analytic atmosphere and his consideration of proper satisfactions and frustrations for patients that were needed to maintain the tension at an optimal level in counter-transference. He believed that the therapeutic effects would depend on the interaction of transference and counter-transference. In addition, he also put forward a new theory of trauma based on object relation.Balint facilitated positively the development of theory of Object Relation theoretically and practically. He put forward distinctive theories of primary object-love and therapeutic regression, advocated positive views of humanity in psychoanalysis, and emphasized the mutuality of doctor-patient relation. There are also some inherent disadvantages and limitations in Balint's theory, for example, his theory is less systematic, some conceptions are too obscure to define, there is the relative absence of clinical illustration in his pure theoretic works, and some of his views are challenged by other psychoanalysts. Toaday, Balint's theory still has far-reaching influence on such fields as modern psychoanalysis, general medical practice, some social work.