From Scholars' Press From Primary Object to Romantic Relationships; Paperback

In this book, I have established a connection between two major intellectual currents in psychodynamic thought: on one hand, attachment theory, which, building upon the research of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, places early emotional bonds at the center of psychological development; and on the other hand, object relations theory, which focuses on the internalization of early experiences and the formation of mental representations of self and other. Although these two approaches have different origins, they converge on the crucial point that the "object of love" in adulthood is never entirely free from the shadow of the earliest objects of life; rather, it remains in a subtle and enduring dialogue with them.Freud's concept of "anaclitic object choice" clearly illustrates this connection: adults tend to love those who unconsciously evoke the archetypal image of their primary caregivers. However, if adult love were merely a repetition of archaic patterns, it could never attain what we term "mature love."