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the first time anal erotism is not understood as an autoerotic manifestation but as a love and hate relationship with the mother that trains and takes care of the child. In Jones’s concept of aphanisis it is possible to find rudimentary elements of the theory of object relations but the more consistent development of it belongs to Melanie Klein and years later to Fairbairn. An important contribution of Horacio Etchegoyen to the exploration of early object relations in the psychoanalytic process is his clarification of early transference as a particular form of transference neurosis which demands interpretation. The central points that define the concept of early transference are: the existence of object relation from the beginning of life (M. Klein 1955) and the notion of unconscious phantasy. The existence of an early transference that reflects early development allows for the possibility to investigate those pre-verbal phases, where there is no pre-conscious registering of memories and which covers the pre-Oedipal stage described by Freud (1931, 1933). This opens the path to test the theories that try to explain early phases of development and conflict. VI. Ab. Leon and Rebeca Grinberg: Modalities of Object Relations in the Psychoanalytic Process The Grinbergs (1981) consider that object relations cannot be understood outside their link with the notions of “object” (the nature of the object with whom the subject relates) and the “space” and “time” in which it takes place. The authors consider that the functioning quality of a determined object relation will depend on the psychic and emotional state of the subject, on the nature of the object, and the space and time in which this relationship takes place. Different levels of the functioning of these relationships will depend on the predominance of the psychotic or neurotic personality and on the interaction between the two members of the analytic couple. Among the different types of object relations that can be present in the clinical exchange they describe three types: those who tend to establish a “one-ness link” with the object- analyst, those who try to create a “duality link”, and those in which the triangular relationship predominates (whether with part or total objects). “ One-ness link ”: some patients regress to a stage of no integration of a very primitive level. They feel fragmented and need the analyst to hold their multiple parts and to integrate their fragments. The need to find a container leads to a frenetic search for an object until the time when a containment function can be internalized. Until then there is only a very rudimentary internal space with all the confusions regarding not only one’s own identity but also the identity of the object. In the analytic situation, when the patient regresses to a state of no-differentiation and no-discrimination, he/she tries to establish a relationship with the analyst with a predominance of magic and omnipotent phantasies. The authors distinguish two modalities of relationship of unity: one pathological which usually predominates in moments of separation when the patient has the absolute certainty that the analyst knows all about the patient, all about his/her phantasies and feelings without him/her having to verbalize them. The other is a creative relationship of unity, the product of a benign regression that promotes a state of fusion
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