AION 103 Course Evaluation

Course Description

The content of this class is organized around the historical development of different perspectives in psychoanalytic theory, tracing the development of Freudian drive theory into object relations, including Klein’s perspectives on the paranoid-schizoid versus depressive position, as well as special topics including observing ego capacity, the development of object relations, the idea of primitive mental states, and Kernberg’s developmental models.  The discussions will include discussions of readings by Klein, Bion, and Winnicott, Kohut, the feminist critique of psychoanalysis, and the “developmental tilt.”

Curricular Notes

Structural and developmental deepening

AION 103 introduces the internal architecture of psychoanalytic thought, tracing the evolution from Freudian drive theory through object relations, self psychology, and early relational perspectives. Core developmental constructs—primitive mental states, observing ego capacity, and levels of organization—are introduced as tools for clinical formulation rather than abstract doctrine. Developmentally, this course marks the transition from theoretical comparison to developmentally informed psychodynamic formulation.

Open Evaluation
1. Describe the historical progression from Freudian drive theory to object relations, self psychology, and contemporary developmental models, and explain how these shifts altered psychoanalytic conceptions of pathology, development, and therapeutic action.
2. Differentiate key psychoanalytic constructs—including paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions, observing ego capacity, and primitive mental states—and use these concepts to assess levels of psychological organization and defensive functioning in clinical presentations.
3. Analyze the contributions of major psychoanalytic thinkers such as Melanie Klein, Wilfred Bion, D. W. Winnicott, and Heinz Kohut, and translate their theoretical insights into clinically relevant formulations of transference, affect regulation, and therapeutic containment.