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In Blum’s contemporary version, Separation-Individuation theory includes the real mother and infant, as well as the concepts of internalization and internal representation. Blum highlights that Mahler’s theory correlates analytically informed observation with intrapsychic developmental transformations: “The intrapsychic changes can include a shift in ego boundaries, the differentiation of self and object representations, the cohesion or splitting of these representations and the achievement of self-object constancy. Both dyadic partners need to be considered” (Blum, 2004, p 551). In the proposed contemporary modification and reformulation, Blum (2004) integrates findings of later developmental research (Stern 1985; Pine, 1986; Bergman, 1999; Gergely, 2000; Fonagy, 2000). His modification involves the symbiotic phase as well as separation-individuation, with particular attention to differentiation and rapprochement. Among many modifications, particularly relevant to the development of self and object representations, he stresses that the neonatal “differentiation precedes the emergence of intra-psychic self and object representation” (Blum, 2004, p. 541). VI. Bd. Context of ‘Developmental Transformation’: As one of the main concepts of epigenetically conceptualized contemporary psychoanalytic developmental theory, the concept of ‘developmental transformation’ reflects the internal capacity to organize and reorganize experience, and consolidate and reconsolidate new psychic structures and formations , throughout life. As compared to other modes of change, which result from gradual progression and quantitative shifts, developmental transformation is defined as a new way of organizing the antecedent components (Olesker 2011), including variably defined inner representations of self and object. So broadly conceptualized developmental transformation presents an intense interest for a wide range of North American analysts, ranging from contemporary Freudians to Self psychologists. VI. Bda. Contemporary Inclusive Freudian Perspectives Multiple connections between trauma, memory, representational processes , and pathogenesis were studied in the context of developmental transformation (A. Freud 1936/1946, Neubauer 1996, 2003) of drive, affectivity, memory, object relations, ego and self. From the conflict point of view, developmental transformation encompasses inner reorganization of conflicts and unconscious fantasies (Brenner 1982, A. Kris 1988). In the clinical context, psychoanalytic work (Blum 1994, 2008, 2019) leads to reconstruction of meaning of the memories, accompanied by reorganization of multiple self and object representations (Blum 1994, 2019). Especially with widened scope of patient populations, there is an acknowledgement of different paths of interventions, which can facilitate the dormant transformative capacity (Lament 2003, Olesker and Lament 2008), acting as a new platform for further growth (Olesker 2011), which may include analytic construction (Freud 1937). On a session-to-session minute-to-minute basis, such constructive and reconstructive work may necessitate ‘rolling’ metaphoric interpretative translations-transformations ,
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