ABSTRACT
In proposing that we consider internal objects as the contents of the unconscious, Melanie K l e i n laid the conceptual groundwork for al l further explorations of the inner relationship between self and object. Based on her early work in child analysis, K le in (1926, 1927) introduced the concept of internal objects, which she described as inner fantasy images of the parents w h i c h had a life of their o w n . In " M o u r n i n g and Melancholia ," Freud (1917) explained how lost actual objects were transformed into inner presences. Kle in extended this formulation by indicating that the "internal wor ld of fantasy objects was a ubiquitous force in psychological life even when no actual loss had occurred" (Brown, 1996, p. 23).
