Psychoanalytic Object Relations Therapy

In Psychoanalytic Object Relations Therapy, Althea Horner explores the clinical implications of developmental object relations theory. She considers the importance of finding the interpersonal metaphor embedded in the patient's material, the various kinds of interventions made by the therapist, and the multiple ways the patient uses the therapist, such as a selfobject, a container, and an object for identification. Eight case presentations demonstrate Horner's theoretical contributions.

Althea Horner's outstanding contribution lies in her ability to avoid the traps of dogma and rigidity while maintaining discipline in theory and practical comprehension. The essential value of Psychoanalytic Object Relations Therapy, for the mental health practitioners, is Dr. Horner's lucid presentation of object relations theory and the translation of that theory into a practical object relations treatment approach., Within these covers, any psychotherapy student, educator/supervisor, and practitioner, from the most embryonic to the most mature, will find material that will increase his/her capacity to listen, to fell, to intuit, and to synthesize what is going on within the dynamic therapeutic context., Dr. Horner has produced a work that is an excellent blend of erudition, practical advice, and human warmth so often needed to offset the novice's tendency to either plunge into technical/theoretical 'purity' or foreswear all wisdom garnered by elders and only do what 'feels loving or empathic,' both at the patient's expense. I prescribe Dr. Horner for both new and experienced psychotherapists whose work is tending toward these two common means of dealing with our 'impossible profession.'

Dr. Althea Horner is an Honorary Member of the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute and Society and a Scientific Associate of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis. She is listed in Who's Who in America and has been writing and articles and books for forty years. While Dr. Horner has retired from clinical practice, she continues to write in Pasadena, California.