From Instinct to Self

Despite the prominence of object relations theory in current psychoanalytic writing and practice, the seminal work of Ronald Fairbairn in this area has, until recently, received little acknowledgment. By collecting in these two volumes some of his hitherto scattered papers, his daughter, Ellinor Fairbairn Birtles, and her coeditor, David Scharff, have taken an important step toward according Fairbairn the recognition he richly deserves. The papers selected by Birtles and Scharff skillfully trace Fairbairn's journey from his early explication and questioning of Freud's instinct theory to his later original exposition of the centrality of object relations in psychic life. These two volumes will do much to acquaint readers with his brilliant and original contributions to contemporary psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice. * Psychoanalytic Books: A Quarterly Journal Of Reviews *
These extraordinary two volumes of material by and about Fairbairn are a virtual treasure trove for anyone at all interested in the history of psychoanalytic ideas. Psychoanalysis has changed radically and pervasively over the past several decades, in theory and in clinical practice, and Fairbairn's ideas both anticipated and helped bring about much of that change. For various reasons, the enormity of Fairbairn's contribution has been only belatedly and insufficiently recognized, and these volumes will goa long way to help rectify that problem. . . . The material is well set into an illuminating historical and conceptual context by the editors, with a rich knowledge of both Fairbairn and British psychoanalysisss -- Stephen A. Mitchell, Ph.D.
W. R. D. Fairbairn is now emerging at last from an undeserved obscurity into the limelight of current object-relations theory. One of the true founders of object relations intersubjectivity, his pioneering ideas, prescient in his lifetime, are now enjoying a late and well deserved full blooming. Until now, Fairbairn was known almost exclusively for his metapsychological contributions in the Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality, published in 1952. With this present two-volume collection, we are treated to the most significant aspects of his other works, which range across a number of subjects, especially child abuse, infant development, and other ideas that are topical today. This is a monumental task of editing, one that has been undertaken by twoeminent Fairbairn scholars, his daughter, Ellinor Fairbairn Birtles, and David Scharff. The personal background material and critique they proffer on this extended works constitutes a significant contribution to Fairbairn's studies.. -- James Grotstein
Jill and David Scharff have been instrumental in bringing Fairbairn's ideas out of obscurity and into the mainstream of object relations thinking in this country. -- Glen O. Gabbard
Despite the prominence of object relations theory in current psychoanalytic writing and practice, the seminal work of Ronald Fairbairn in this area has, until recently, received little acknowledgment. By collecting in these two volumes some of his hitherto scattered papers, his daughter, Ellinor Fairbairn Birtles, and her coeditor, David Scharff, have taken an important step toward according Fairbairn the recognition he richly deserves. The papers selected by Birtles and Scharff skillfully trace Fairbairn's journey from his early explication and questioning of Freud's instinct theory to his later original exposition of the centrality of object relations in psychic life. These two volumes will do much to acquaint readers with his brilliant and original contributions to contemporary psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice. * Psychoanalytic Books: A Quarterly Journal Of Reviews *
These extraordinary two volumes of material by and about Fairbairn are a virtual treasure trove for anyone at all interested in the history of psychoanalytic ideas. Psychoanalysis has changed radically and pervasively over the past several decades, in theory and in clinical practice, and Fairbairn's ideas both anticipated and helped bring about much of that change. For various reasons, the enormity of Fairbairn's contribution has been only belatedly and insufficiently recognized, and these volumes will go a long way to help rectify that problem. . . . The material is well set into an illuminating historical and conceptual context by the editors, with a rich knowledge of both Fairbairn and British psychoanalysis -- Stephen A. Mitchell, Ph.D.
W. R. D. Fairbairn is now emerging at last from an undeserved obscurity into the limelight of current object-relations theory. One of the true founders of object relations intersubjectivity, his pioneering ideas, prescient in his lifetime, are now enjoying a late and well deserved full blooming. Until now, Fairbairn was known almost exclusively for his metapsychological contributions in the Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality, published in 1952. With this present two-volume collection, we are treated to the most significant aspects of his other works, which range across a number of subjects, especially child abuse, infant development, and other ideas that are topical today. This is a monumental task of editing, one that has been undertaken by two eminent Fairbairn scholars, his daughter, Ellinor Fairbairn Birtles, and David Scharff. The personal background material and critique they proffer on this extended works constitutes a significant contribution to Fairbairn's studies. -- James Grotstein