Born at the end of the 19th century, Melanie Klein remains one of the most important psychologists of human history. Of Orthodox Jewish origins, Klein was the youngest of four siblings.
His interest in the workings of the human mind began early. Although his adolescence was marked by the desire to study medicine, by the age of sixteen he already knew that he wanted to dedicate himself to psychiatry.
Melanie Klein: a turbulent life that led to psychoanalysis
However, it was not easy to be a woman with intellectual aspirations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
When Melanie Klein was barely seventeen she became engaged to the man who would become her husband and His dream of studying medicine was finally dashed.
But Klein's curiosity did not die with the dream of becoming a doctor. Faithful follower of Freud, Klein continued to immerse herself in the books and articles published by the father of psychoanalysis.
She later suffered from depression following her second pregnancy. Her psychoanalyst, Sándor Ferenczi, turned out to be a great friend of Freud's; the support and listening provided by Ferenczi completely changed Melanie Klein's life.
From then on, she became more and more interested in psychoanalysis. In addition, the influence of the First World War prompted her to move to Berlin, the undisputed capital of psychoanalysis, where attended the Fifth International Psychoanalytic Congress.
She herself wrote the following about the event: «It strengthened my desire to dedicate myself to psychoanalysis. During the analysis with Ferenczi, he drew my attention to my great gifts for understanding children and my interest in them, and he greatly encouraged my idea of dedicating myself to child analysis.
Klein's main contributions to psychoanalysis
Her interest in children led Melanie Klein to delve deeper into Freud's ideas. Thanks to her, we now know that The events experienced in childhood influence the consolidation of our personality during adulthood.
The psychoanalyst's career was long and prolific; her theories were many. Some of the most important are:
Game technique
The psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, was characterized by the importance of the couch and free association during the sessions. Free association It is a method through which the patient reveals details of his personality, his life and his subconscious to the psychoanalyst. This It is achieved by urging the patient to tell «everything that comes to mind».
However, this type of free association was destined to fail when studying the minds of very young children. With the intention of analyzing the brains of children under three years old, Melanie Klein created the game technique.
As its name suggests, this method used play to discover and analyse children's concerns. Klein's technique consisted of the following aspects:
- The sincerity and openness of the psychoanalyst, which clearly answered children's questions, including those related to sexuality. Dictionary of Kleinian Thought He states that «it had a positive effect on the child to meet an open and completely frank adult, and it was evident that play and fantasy life were enriched as a result.»
- A box of toys for every child, which allowed children to express their most imaginative side and to release the unconscious. For Klein, the expressions that children develop during play are similar to the language of dreams, which she considered «archaic» and «phylogenetically acquired», that is, innately through genes. Melanie Klein associated with each toy a «symbolic meaning, as if they were fragments of a dream.» She also discovered that expressing anxiety through play made it more tolerable.
Schizoid-paranoid position and depressive position
For many experts, the most important book published by a member of the British Society of Psychoanalysis is Child Psychoanalysis, by Melanie Klein.
In this work, Melanie Klein investigated the stages that occur during the first years of childhood. She theorized that each of these stages was marked by a series of conflicts and that only if they were successfully overcome could one enjoy life and develop healthy relationships with others.
Of the stages that occur during the first years of life, The ones that carry the most weight are:
- The paranoid-schizoid position: This is the stage that covers the first four months of life. It is characterized by the opposition of two instincts: the instinct of life or love and the instinct of death or hate. The feeling of hate comes from the anxiety and trauma that the child experiences during birth. This feeling is projected towards one of the mother's breasts and is opposed to the feeling of love and protection that is projected towards the other breast. Later, the child internalizes these feelings and the anxiety decreases, although the child continues to feel divided; threatened and protected at the same time by his mother.
- The depressive position: This stage occurs after the first four months of life and is characterized by the fusion of the loved object and the hated object into a single figure, that of the mother. As a result of this process, the child begins to feel guilty, since he feels that he has harmed the loved object, and tries to repair the damage caused, soaked in sadness. At this time, he also begins to understand that the loved object does not depend on him, that is, that the mother is a being separate from him, who also relates to other people. As a result of this loss, the mind begins to mature, the «I» begins to form and the world is perceived in a more realistic way.
Do you think your problems stem from experiences you had during childhood? Going to an online psychologist can help you. Leave us your question and enjoy a First briefing free.
At we have been experts in online therapy since 2012. Throughout our career we have helped more than 2,000 patients overcome various emotional problems. If you are interested in seeking the help of an online psychologist, you can request a free first session by clicking on the button below.
Why choose
- We have been leaders in online psychological care since 2012.
- First informational appointment free.
- Online therapy from 40 euros per session.
- Team of senior psychologists, with decades of experience.
- All the therapy we offer is via videoconference. 100% confidential.
- The same psychologist will attend to you throughout the treatment.
- At you do not lose the money for the sessions. If you cannot connect or are not there, the session is postponed to another day.
- Attention in Spanish, English and Catalan.