Self and Others: Object Relations Theory in Practice

by N. Gregory Hamilton

Self and Others is addressed to students and practitioners of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Its 19 chapters are divided into five evenly balanced parts. The first rubric, "Self, Others, and Ego," introduces us to the units of the intersubjective constitution we have come to know as object relations theory. The second rubric, "Developing Object Relations," is a confluence of lessons derived from infant studies and the psychotherapeutic process, specifically from the work of Mahler and Kernberg. Third, Hamilton integrates into an "Object Relations Continuum" Mahler's developmental stages and organizational series with nosological entities and levels of personality organization. Under the penultimate rubric, "Treatment," levels of object relatedness and types of psychopathology are grounded in considerations of technique in treatment, and generous clinical vignettes are provided to illustrate the technical issues cited. Last, the rubric of "Broader Contexts" takes object relations theory out of the consulting room into application areas that include folklore, myth, and transformative themes on the self, small and large groups, applications of object relations theory outside psychoanalysis, and the evolutionary history and politics of object relations theory.

This volume thus presents an integrative theory of object relations that links theory with practice. But, more than that, Hamilton accomplishes his objective of delineating an integrative theory that is quite free of rivalry between schools of thought.

An indispensable contribution to beginning psychoanalytic candidates and other practitioners as well as those who wish to see the application of object relations theories to fields outside of psychoanalysis.

― Psychoanalytic Books: A Quarterly Journal of Reviews

A Jason Aronson Book

Genres: Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 1977

About the author

N. Gregory Hamilton is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, who has written extensively about object relations theory and its applications to general psychiatry and clinical psychology. His works have been translated into six foreign languages.

He trained at the Menninger School of Psychiatry and taught there for two years before joining the faculty of Oregon Health and Sciences University, where he taught for more than a decade. He currently has a private practice in Portland, Oregon.

With a background in literature and creative writing, he has won the Menninger Alumni Association Scientific Writing Award and the Linacre Award for Medical Journalism.

Reviews

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite introduction to object relations. The writing is clear, and Hamilton provides understandable definitions for the essential terms. This is necessary for an introduction for a school of therapy replete with jargon. Once you understand object relations, its basic ideas seem pretty commonsensical, but this is only possible if you’re conversant with the likes of “object,” “projection,” “introjection,” and “projective identification.” Hamilton also leans more heavily on American object relations theorists. I think this makes sense for an introductory text, as an explanation of the British school will begin with Melanie Klein, and her ideas will likely leave the novice therapist, and probably most seasoned therapists, feeling dizzied.

[Douglas Eifert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, coherent, overview of Object Relations Theory. The author does an excellent job defining terms and using them consistently.

[Lilach Lavy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This timeless book still feels very relevant and relatable today.
It was much more readable than i expected-
Of course, one has to have a tendency towards these things, but i felt the book made Object Relations Theory very clear and accessible for me, as well as how they got there (in the sense of the history of psychology).
One of the things i like about the author- is that he keeps both an objective perspective, And a warm relatable tone. There's a sense of an open mind, and a care for human beings.
Others that read the book may find this here an overstatement- but i felt it.

[Benedek Dr. Bálint · Rating 4 out of 5]

The hard part about psychodynamic psychiatry and psychotherapy is to understand the comprehensive books about the topic. This stems from many sources, for example the lack of consistency in the meaning of technical terms. The author tries to fix this matter by providing clear definitions for each term he is using (e.g. ego/self/object). Compared to the previous books I have read in object relations theory, this one can be read and understood more easily.

[Sean Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was well written, and Dr. Hamilton does a great job of explaining object relations theory in a digestible manner and then goes deeper than Cashdan in explaining the psychoanalytic principles behind the therapeutic interventions in object relations therapy.