John Steiner (born 1934) is a

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

, author and trainer at the

British Psychoanalytical Society The British Psychoanalytical Society was founded by the British neurologist Ernest Jones as the London Psychoanalytical Society on 30 October 1913. It is one of two organizations in Britain training psychoanalysts, the other being the British P ...

. Steiner, a "prolific London post- Kleinian", is best known for his conceptions of the "pathological organisation" or the "psychic retreat"...between the paranoid-schizoid and the depressive positions'. His book, ''Psychic Retreats'', describes a treatment methodology for patients with complex

defence mechanisms In psychoanalytic theory, a defence mechanism (American English: defense mechanism), is an unconscious psychological operation that functions to protect a person from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and ou ...

that are difficult to treat with conventional

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

Mental Organization

The paranoid-schizoid position

John Steiner separates this into two poles: # Pathological fragmentation is regarded as the most archaic. This is where

splitting Splitting may refer to: * Splitting (psychology) * Lumpers and splitters, in classification or taxonomy * Wood splitting * Tongue splitting * Splitting, railway operation Mathematics * Heegaard splitting * Splitting field * Splitting principle ...

has failed to contain anxiety, and the ego breaks up in self-defense. The defensive operation of "fragmentation" brings with it a deathly sense of anguish, a sense of chaos that can result in impressive and spectacular clinical scenarios. # Normal splitting, which is primarily seen as a progressive process. The distinction between good and bad already implies a degree of solid integration that allows a good relationship with a good object. This distinction is based on a divide, protecting it from destructive impulses directed towards the bad object. There is alternation between idealization / persecution, and in favorable situations, access to ambivalence, and therefore to the depressive position. Steiner spoke in terms of 'fluctuations..between the two positions, paranoid-schizoid and depressive, involving 'periods of integration leading to depressive position functioning or disintegration and fragmentation resulting in a paranoid-schizoid state'. He emphasised the appearance of 'a sense of wholeness both in the self and in object relations as the depressive position is approached'.

The depressive position

Steiner divides the depressive position into two poles: 'a phase of ''denial of the loss of the object'' and a phase of ''experience of the loss of the object'' '. 1. The pole of the fear of the loss of the object — 'stuck in the first phase of the depressive position, in which the fear of loss of the object dominated his defensive organization so that mourning could not be reached there'. 2. Experience of the loss of the object, with all that that implies of renunciation.

Psychic retreat

In all these subpositions, there is the possibility of a psychic withdrawal which offers a temporary escape — but at the cost of mental impairment. Faithful to

Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (née Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Klein suggested tha ...

, Steiner considers that throughout life there is an oscillation between the positions and their subdivisions. Everything hinges upon the "position" of withdrawal that may be attached to each of them. Unlike

Donald Winnicott Donald Woods Winnicott (7 April 1896 – 25 January 1971) was an English paediatrician and psychoanalyst who was especially influential in the field of object relations theory and developmental psychology. He was a leading member of the Br ...

, Steiner suggests that we should not idealize transitional areas, on the grounds that they may be confused with a psychological withdrawal that is not creative. Withdrawal is to be understood simultaneously as an expression of destructiveness and a defense against it, serving a quasi-adaptivity which allows a quiet and temporarily protected space but at the price of impaired contact with reality: 'withdrawal to a refuge where the patient was relatively free from anxiety but where development was minimal'. Such withdrawal can also be seen as a schizoid regression in

Fairbairn Fairbairn is a surname of Scottish origin which means "a handsome child." Notable people with the surname include: * Andrew Fairbairn (disambiguation), several people *Bill Fairbairn (born 1947), Canadian ice hockey player * Bruce Fairbairn (1949 ...

's sense, the borderline patient tending to shun contact with both himself and his objects. Steiner here refers to the little-known theories of Henri Rey about 'the "marsupial space"' of earliest life — a psychological space on analogy to the kangaroo's pouch, which continues until the individual has found a personal space separate from the breast area: 'the borderline patient often feels he has been prematurely and cruelly pushed out of this maternal space', producing the '"claustro-agoraphobic" dilemma...trapped in a psychic retreat'. 'In attempting to reach analysands in the psychic retreat, Steiner put forth the idea of a distinction between "patient-centred" and "analyst-centred" interpretations', the latter being focused around 'what he believes that the analysand believes that the analyst believes'.

Personal life

Steiner married Deborah Pickering in 1963: their son Michael was born in 1965, daughter Kate in 1966, and daughter Susie in 1971.

Bibliography

Edited Volumes

* ''The Oedipus complex today : clinical implications'', ed. with Ronald Britton; Michael Feldman; Edna O'Shaughnessy (1989) * ''Melanie Klein's lectures on technique. Their relevance for contemporary psychoanalysis'', ed. with critical review by John Steiner (2017)

Monographs

* ''Psychic Retreats : Pathological Organizations in Psychotic, Neurotic and Borderline Patients'' (1993) * ''Seeing and being seen: emerging from a psychic retreat'' (2007) * ''Illusion, Disillusion, and Irony in Psychoanalysis'' (2020)