INTRODUCTION TO THE WORK OF MELANIE KLEIN
SEMINAR OUTLINE
The aim of the seminar is to introduce the participants to the main concepts developed by Melanie Klein.
We shall read and think about the works written by Klein, as well as works by some of her followers who developed further and explained her teachings.
Each topic will be discussed over two sessions in order to offer a deeper understanding of the concepts. The seminars are based in theory, nevertheless the examples from the clinical practice will be their main focus. We encourage the examples from the participants’ own practice, as well as their active, free and critical participation.
The seminars will take place on the Zoom platform on Thursdays at 8:15pm local time, and 80 minutes of duration.
SEMINAR LEADER
Dr Gordana Batinica is a Psychiatrists, Training and Supervising Analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society, and a Child Psychotherapist trained at the Tavistock Clinic. From 1989 to 2003 she worked as a psychiatrist and a child psychotherapist in NHS. She now works in private practice in London and teaches and supervises both in the UK (London, Oxford) and internationally (Serbia, Belarus). She is a former honorary lecturer in the Adult Department, Tavistock Clinic. She is the current Honorary Secretary of the Education Committee of the BPAS. She was born in Belgrade where she specialized in neuropsychiatry at the Faculty of Medicine. Before moving to London she worked at the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Neurology and Psychiatry, University Clinical Centre of Serbia. She is a Member of Centre for Psychoanalysis: Clinic & Theory, Belgrade.
GENERAL REFERENCES
*Reading Klein – Rustin M. and Rustin M., New Library of Psychoanalysis, Routledge (2017)
*Melanie Klein; her work in context – Likierman M., Continuum (2001)
*Introduction to the work of Melanie Klein – Segal H., Hogarth Press (1973)
*Kleinian Theory. A Contemporary Perspective – Bronstein C., Karnac Books (2001)
*The New Dictionary of Kleinian Thought – Edited by Elizabeth Bott Spillius et al, Routledge (2011)
Clinical Klein – Hinshelwood R. D., Free Association Books (1994)
Melanie Klein in Berlin – Frank C., New Library of Psychanalysis (2009)
Melanie Klein – Kristeva J., Columbia University Press (2001)
Immaterial facts – Freud’s discovery of the psychic reality and Klein’s development of his work – Caper R., Routledge (2000)
Melanie Klein; her life and her work – Grosskruth P., Hodder and Stoughton (1986)
The Melanie Klein Trust website http://melanie-klein-trust.org.uk/ provides extensive reading lists on different topics and a clear timeline of Klein’s life so may be a useful source of information as well as a film discussing her work, featuring Ron Britton and Edna O’Shaughnessy.
*particularly recommended
SEMINARS AND READING LIST
1&2 Melanie Klein – Time and Her Life. General Overview of Main Concepts
Required reading:
Zaretsky E. (2005): Secrets of the Soul, Ch 8.’The Turn Towards Mother’
Klein M. (1959) ‘Autobiography and reflections’ Ch 5 u ‘Essential Readings from the Melanie Klein Archives: Original Papers and Critical Reflections’ Edited by J Milton 2020
Klein M. (1975) Our adult world and its roots in infancy. In: Envy and Gratitude. London: Hogarth Press (1975) Vol III. Ch 12.
Additional reading:
Hobsbawm E. (1994): The Age of Extremes, Ch 1. and 6.
3&4 The Development of Child Analysis
Required reading:
Klein M. (1975) Symposium on child-analysis. In: Love, Guilt and Reparation. London: Hogarth Press (1975) Vol I. Ch 7.
Klein M. (1975) The Technique of Early Analysis. In: The Psycho-Analysis of Children. London: Hogarth Press Vol II. Ch 2.
Additional reading:
Likierman M (2001) Melanie Klein: Her work in context. Continuum. Ch. 3 i 4.
5&6 Unconscious Phantasy and Inner Object
Required reading:
Spillius E B (2001): Freud and Klein on the concept of Phantasy. In: Bronstein, C (2001) Kleinian Theory: A Contemporary Perspective. London, Karnac Books.
Bronstein C (2001): What are internal objects? In: Ibid.
Isaacs S (1948) The Nature and Function of Phantasy, IJP 29:73-97
Additional reading:
International Journal of Psychoanalysis (2017) 98: Education Section: 779 – 859
7&8 The Depressive Position and Mourning
Required reading:
Temperley J (2001): The Depressive Position. In: Bronstein, C (2001) Kleinian Theory: A Contemporary Perspective. London, Karnak Books.
Likierman M (2001): Melanie Klein: Her work in Context. Continuum. Ch 8.
Klein M. (1940) Mourning and its Relation to Manic Depressive States. IJP 21, 125-153. Also In: (Ibid) Ch 20.
Additional reading:
Klein M. (1935) A Contribution to the Psychogenesis of Manic-Depressive States. IJP 16, 145-174. Also In: Love, Guilt and Reparation. London: Hogarth Press (1975) Vol I. Ch 17.
9&10 The Oedipus Complex
Required reading:
Klein M. (1945) The Oedipus Complex in the light of early anxieties. In: (Ibid) Ch 21.
Rusbridger R (2004) Elements of the Oedipus complex: a Kleinian account, IJP 85: 731-48
11&12 The Paranoid Schizoid Position
Required reading:
Klein M. (1946) Notes on some schizoid mechanisms. In: Envy and Gratitude. London: Hogarth Press (1975) Vol III. pp 1-24.
Roth P. (2001) Mapping The Landscape IJP 82 (3): 533-543
Additional reading:
Segal, H (1973) The Paranoid- Schizoid Position in: ‘Introduction to the work of Melanie Klein’, London: Hogarth Press (1973) Ch 3.
13&14 Symbol Formation
Required reading:
Klein M. (1930) The importance of symbol formation in the development of the Ego. In: (Ibid) Ch 12.
Additional reading:
Segal, H. (1957) Notes on Symbol Formation IJP 38: 391-397; republished in: The Work of Hanna Segal. New York: Jason Aronson, pp. 49-65.
15&16 The Super – Ego
Required reading:
Klein M. (1932) An obsessional neurosis in a six-year-old girl In: The Psycho-Analysis of Children. London: Hogarth Press (1975) Vol II. Ch.3
Klein M. (1933) The Early Development of Conscience in the Child In: Love, Guilt and Reparation. London, Hogarth Press (1975) Vol. I. Ch.15
Additional reading:
Spillius, E.B. (Ed): The New Dictionary of Kleinian Thought. London: Routledge (2011) Ch.8.
17&18 Envy and Gratitude
Required reading:
Klein M. (1957) Envy and Gratitude In: Envy and Gratitude. London: Hogarth Press. Ch 10 (1975) Vol III pp. 176-235
Spillius, E. (1993) Varieties of Envious Experience, IJP 74: 1199-1212
19&20 Technique and General Overview
Required reading:
Steiner, J. (2017) Lectures on Technique by Melanie Klein. Edited with Critical Review by John Steiner. London: Routledge.
Part 1, pp1-23 by John Steiner and Part 3. Pp 95-117 transcript of seminars run by Klein (1958)