The Therapist as an Ally of Lost Good Objects

The present article addresses the therapeutic potential of salvaging the historic good object and its revival in the patient's mind. This goal is particularly challenging in the context of psychotherapy conducted with adolescents and adults who have a background of relational trauma, when the approaches and histories of both patient and therapist are liable to join forces and bring about a split: between seeing significant objects from the patient's past as essentially bad and seeing the therapist as all good. One of the potentially troublesome outcomes of this situation is the danger of a Gordian knot being created, between the perception of the historic object as all bad and the parallel and persistent experience of the individual as undeserving, destructive, and devoid of love. To loosen this knot, which would allow feelings of vitality and hope to take root, it is important to salvage the historic good object of both participants in the therapeutic encounter. These issues will be illustrated by means of a case study of psychotherapy conducted with an adolescent.