Melanie Klein: A Brief Biography

A prominent female psychologist of her time dynamiting the field with her endeavor of psychoanalysis and child development there is a resurgence of interest in studying the work of Melanie Klein. Melanie Klein was a psychoanalyst who devised therapeutic techniques for children that had great impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis. She was best known for play therapy and was a leading innovator in theorizing object relations theory. Melanie Klein was born on March 30th, 1882 in Vienna, Austria. Her father, Dr. Moriz Reisez, was undoubtedly an inspiration to young Melanie. His vast knowledge of literature and languages impressed her greatly.

Throughout her life she did not maintain close and meaningful relationships. She learnt from young how to attain and maintain independence from cultural, social and personal pressures. Melanie became engaged and married at the age of 19 to Arthur Stephen Klein which several years later ended in divorce. Together Arthur and Melanie had three children.

In 1921, due to her impression of Karl Abraham and his philosophies, she was encouraged to practice child analysis in which she opened up her psychoanalytical practice with both adults and children in Berlin. That year she went on the publish one of her most notable works The Development of a Child which displayed her acceptance of speech, play, actions and dreams as expressive of the child’s unconscious mind.

Zeitgeist of the Time During the early nineteen hundredths, the era when psychology was just booming as a new founded and declared science Melanie Klein faced much oppression and ridicule. In a nut shell, she was subjected to being an uneducated; no degree based female want to be who opposed what Freud had molded.

Th...

... middle of paper ...

...ut much of history and especially in psychology; Klein sparked the interest in the field of child development which has now revolutionized the field and plays a pivotal and active role in psychology. Kleinian analysis focuses on interpreting very deep and primitive emotions and fantasies from the very beginning of life. Throughout her own life she stressed determinism over free choice which can be seen through her prominence in the field of psychology. Melanie Klein’s work has answered the question why is it important to study how children grow, learn and change? An understanding of child development is essential because it allows us to fully appreciate the cognitive, emotional, physical, social, and educational growth that children go through from birth and into early adulthood. Kleinian theory is still influential as a distinctive strain of psychoanalytic theory.