Theories of Object Relations: Bridges to Self Psychology discusses the work of the major American and British contributors to object relations theory, focusing on the ways in which these theories anticipated and enriched the emerging field of self psychology. Howard Bacal and Kenneth Newman significantly advance the integration of major theoretical paradigms and introduce new concepts that provide fresh perspectives on the clinical situation. The authors provide systematic and scholarly synopses of the work of Harry Stack Sullivan, Otto Kernberg, Margaret Mahler, Heinz Kohut and his colleagues, Ian Suttie, Melanie Klein, Michael Balint, W.R.D. Fairbairn, Harry Guntrip, D.W. Winnicott, and John Bowlby. The authors' aim is to make a significant contribution to the integration of therapeutically useful ideas while at the same time pointing out the utility of the distinctive approaches.

Bacal and Newman help practitioners to organize and clarify their understanding of patients as they apply object relations theory in a variety of settings to their clinical work.