Melanie Klein
The infant's first relationship is already a drama of love, hate, and terror.
Biography
Austrian-British psychoanalyst who pioneered child analysis. Argued infants have a rich, turbulent inner world from the beginning. Her claims were controversial but her clinical observations have proven remarkably durable.
Key Ideas
Splitting: dividing experience into 'all good' and 'all bad' because ambivalence is too complex to tolerate.Projective identification: placing unwanted parts of the self into another: not just defense but communication.Paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions: two modes: split/persecutory vs. tolerating ambivalence.Envy: a primary impulse directed at the source of what is good: an attack on goodness itself.
Clinical Relevance
Splitting is visible in clients who idealize then suddenly devalue: the 'perfect' partner becomes 'terrible' overnight. Projective identification explains countertransference: sudden irritation in session may be the client's disowned affect being communicated. The depressive position isn't depression but a developmental achievement: tolerating that someone you love can also disappoint you. Many clients oscillate between idealization and devaluation; the goal is more integrated relating.