[Not Available].

Abstract

The paper is focused on the theory of regression formulated by the Budapest School of psychoanalysis, first of all by Michael Balint, which is closely related to the idea of primary love, the dual union of the mother and the child. The contribution of the Budapest School to the establishment of object relational theory and self psychology is recapitulated. Based on the work of Freud, Ferenczi, Balint and Kohut, the history of the term regression from the initial negative connotations to its interpretation as an indispensable skill of the healthy Ego is surveyed. Finally, the issue whether regression is an enemy or a helper is addressed, its manifestations in everyday life and applicability in self psychology oriented psychoanalytic therapy are discussed. Self psychology investigates regression in the mirror of the integrity of self formation: it considers the capacity for benignant regression as an indispensable condition of the healthy self, and blames the defense against regression for certain problems, most particularly for sexual orgasm disorders. In the paper, this interpretation is traced back to the theory of Balint, postulating a close relation between self psychological approach and the Balintian theory of benignant regression. The author argues that the resulting consequnces can be directly applied in psychoanalytic therapy, and demonstrates this statment by two case reports.