Interpersonal and Relational Psychoanalytic Contributions to the Treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder

The author discusses the break interpersonalists made with Freud's drive, defense, fantasy model by shifting the focus of inquiry to what occurs between people creates mind while retaining Freud's concepts of transference, countertransference, dream interpretation and the unconscious. Additionally, they acknowledged influences from culture, class, and religion as contributing factors to the organization of family structure and individual minds. The relational school bifurcated psychoanalytic theory into the drive structure model (Freudian theory, Ego Psychology), and the relational structure model (interpersonal school, British Object Relations, and SelfPsychology). Its strength lies in its recognition that interactions in the interpersonal world effects the formation of mind along with object relations theory emphasizing that intrapsychic structure influences perceptions and interactions in the relational world. Since both schools of thought acknowledge Sandor Ferenczi as their progenitor, a brief discussion of his influential contributions is offered.