Lectures on Technique by Melanie Klein : Edited with Critical Review by John Steiner

__Lectures on Technique by Melanie Klein__ is based on a series of six lectures given by Melanie Klein to students at the British Psychoanalytical Society in 1936 and repeated several times in subsequent years. They were discovered in the Melanie Klein Archives housed in the Wellcome Medical Library and have been previously described by Elizabeth Spillius but never before published. In this book, John Steiner explores what characterises Kleinian Technique, how her technique changed over the years, what she saw as the correct psychoanalytical attitude and how psychoanalytic technique has changed since Klein’s death. Melanie Klein, who moved to England from Berlin in 1927, became one of the leading psychoanalysts, following Freud and making an important contribution in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis. A pioneer in child analysis, her work remains widely influential throughout the world. This book consists of the full text of the original six lectures, accompanied by a critical analysis from John Steiner who is known internationally as a leading Kleinian analyst and writer. Steiner demonstrates the importance of the lectures in understanding Klein’s work and their continued relevance for contemporary psychoanalysis. In addition, also published for the first time, this book includes annotated transcripts of a preserved recording of a seminar Klein held in 1958 with young analysts of the British Psychoanalytical Society. In this seminar, close to the end of her life, many of the points made in the earlier lectures were elaborated upon and brought further up to date in light of developments in Klein’s thinking during the intervening years. Featuring rare, previously unpublished material, __Lectures on Technique by Melanie Klein__ provides a new and significant contribution to understanding of the Kleinian paradigm. It will be essential reading for all psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists interested in and influenced by Klein’s work and legacy. CONTENTS 7 FOREWORD 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9 Part 1 INTRODUCTION, OUTLINE AND CRITICAL REVIEW OF KLEIN’S LECTURES AND SEMINARS ON TECHNIQUE 10 Discovering the lectures: Elizabeth Spillius in the archive 11 Origins in the play technique with children 13 Overview and discussion of Klein’s lectures on technique 13 The release of love through the interpretation of hatred 16 The two fundamentals: transference and the understanding of the unconscious 17 Links to basic unconscious phantasies and mechanisms 18 Mr B meets another patient; a man whom he dislikes 21 ‘What, then, is interpretation? And how does it work?’ 23 The point of maximum anxiety 25 Two contemporary issues 27 The use of counter-transference 27 Making links to the patient’s early history 30 Part 2 THE LECTURES ON TECHNIQUE, 1936 34 INTRODUCTION 34 LECTURE 1: GUIDING PRINCIPLES 38 The analytic attitude 38 How to check feelings of power and superiority 39 Freud’s discovery of transference 40 The revision of the seduction theory and its effect on technique 41 Implications of transference for technique 42 The two fundamentals: transference and the understanding of the unconscious 43 Transferences are rooted in the past and lived out in the present 43 The positive and negative transference: love and hate in relation to the analyst 45 Sorrow, guilt and anxiety are part of the complex relation to objects which we call love 46 Love buried under hate, and hate concealing love 46 Later additions to Lecture 1 47 The effect of theory on technique: Freud’s discovery of unconscious guilt and the theory of the super-ego 47 The failure to connect the theory of the super-ego with technique 47 The understanding of the super-ego and its influence on technique 48 Sources of a harsh super-ego 50 LECTURE 2: ASPECTS OF THE TRANSFERENCE SITUATION 51 The distribution of love and hate 51 The complex nature of the super-ego in the transference 52 The transference situation also affects the beginning of an analysis 53 A very ordinary first hour with Mr B: his fear of becoming dependent 53 The reliving of specific situations in the transference 54 The reliving of a specific situation when Mr B meets another patient 55 General interpretations are not very helpful 56 The transference situation permeates the whole actual life of the patient during the analysis 57 Mrs A and the cheap dress standing for the analysis 58 Mrs B and the transference of hate from the analyst to another person 58 LECTURE 3: TRANSFERENCE AND INTERPRETATION 60 Finding the links between phantasy and the patient’s experiences in the past and present 60 A few aspects of the counter-transference and the analytic attitude 61 ‘What, then, is interpretation? And how does it work?’ 63 The contrast between psychoanalytic interpretation and hypnotic suggestion 64 The denial of psychic reality and the control over internal and external objects 64 Interpretation seen as dangerous or magically helpful 65 Newer work on early anxiety situations and defences 66 Analysing deepest anxieties in children: John and the lion 67 Loving feelings released through the analysis of the negative transference 68 LECTURE 4: CLINICAL ILLUSTRATION OF TRANSFERENCE AND INTERPRETATION 70 More detailed discussion of clinical material from Mr B 70 A summary of the associations from the second hour 78 LECTURE 5: EXPERIENCES AND PHANTASY 80 Clinical material, Mr D 82 Discussion 88 LECTURE 6: THE ANALYSIS OF GRIEVANCES 89 The importance of the connection between aggression and anxiety 95 Establishing links through interpretation 96 Interpreting at the point of maximum urgency 96 The relation between transference interpretations and extra-transference remarks 97 The analytic procedure is not carried out by interpretations alone, but at some point the analyst will need to make links to the transference 99 The analyst’s capacity to face the unconscious 100 Self-analysis and the awareness of limitations 100 The everyday life of the analyst 101 Part 3THE SEMINARS ON TECHNIQUE, 1958 104 INTRODUCTION 104 1. Can you say something about the changes that have taken place in technique during the last 40 years? 105 2. What are the principles that should govern the conduct of a preliminary interview? 108 3. What are your views as to how one should deal with the patient’s silences? 109 4. Additional question on counter-transference asked by Isabel Menzies and Stanley Leigh 111 5. Under what circumstances do you advocate the asking of questions by the analyst? 114 6. Should the analyst point out factual situations that seem to have been wrongly perceived by the patient? 115 7. Further comment on counter-transference in the interval 116 8. Can you discuss the question of linking in all its ramifications? 118 9. What do you think Freud meant by free-floating attention? 120 10. To what extent do you advocate the use of counter-transference feelings in the making of interpretations? 121 11. Could you say something about the subjective experience of projective identification into the analyst? 121 Appendix A LIST OF PATIENTS 126 Appendix B LECTURE 5 VERBATIM FROM THE ARCHIVE 128 BIBLIOGRAPHY 137 INDEX 141 Melanie Klein's Lectures on Technique is based on a series of six lectures given by Melanie Klein to students at the British Psychoanalytical Society in 1936 and repeated several times in subsequent years. They were discovered in the Melanie Klein Archives housed in the Wellcome Medical Library and have been previously described by Elisabeth Spillius but never before published. In this book, John Steiner explores what characterises Kleinian Technique, how her technique changed over the years, what she saw as the correct psychoanalytical attitude and also how psychoanalytic technique has changed since Klein's death. Melanie Klein, who moved to England from Berlin in 1927, became one of the leading psychoanalysts, following Freud and making an important contribution in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis. A pioneer in child analysis, her work remains widely influential throughout the world. This book consists of the full text of the original six lectures, accompanied by a critical analysis from John Steiner who is known internationally as a leading Kleinian analyst and writer. They demonstrate the importance of the lectures in understanding Klein's work and its continued relevance for contemporary psychoanalysis. In addition, also published for the first time, this book includes annotated transcripts of a preserved recording of a seminar Klein held in 1958 with young analysts of the British Psychoanalytical Society. In this seminar, close to the end of her life, many of the points made in the earlier lectures were elaborated upon and brought further up to date in light of developments in Klein's thinking during the intervening years. Featuring rare, previously unpublished material, Melanie Klein's Lectures on Technique provides a new and significant contribution to understanding of the Kleinian paradigm. It will be essential reading for all psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists interested in and influenced by Klein's work and legacy Acknowledgements -- Preface By Michael Feldman -- Introduction, Outline, And Critical Review Of Klein's Lectures And Seminars On Technique -- The Lectures On Technique, 1936 -- Lecture 1: Guiding Principles -- Lecture 2: Aspects Of The Transference Situation -- Lecture 3: Transference And Interpretation -- Lecture 4: Clinical Illustration Of Transference And Interpretation -- Lecture 5: Experiences And Phantasy -- Lecture 6: The Analysis Of Grievances -- The Seminars On Technique, 1958 -- Appendix -- A. List Of Patients -- B. Lecture 5 Verbatim From The Archive -- References. John Steiner. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.