Vuaillat-Mathieu, Sabine <br/><br/>
Early Relations between the Mother and Child: Fairbairn’s Object Relations Theory 

 -  2003.<br/>							 
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<br/><br/> The interest in early mother/child relationships has its own history. Fairbairn’s object-relations theory is a critical moment in this history. Based on clinical work with adults, Fairbairn examines unsatisfying early relationships with the mother: these relations give the feeling that expressing love for the mother destroys her. However, Fairbairn goes even further: libido is no longer pleasure-seeking, but object-seeking. His theory was questioned by critics, but the authors of this paper believe that Fairbairn constructed a history of early links with the mother based on work with adults and was a pioneer in the field of early mother/child relationships.