Jill Savege Scharff – Object Relations Psychotherapy

Watch renowned psychoanalyst Jill Savege Scharff masterfully demonstrate Object Relations Psychotherapy in an actual therapy session in this 3-part video.

An object relations approach eschews the blank slate and instead makes the relationship between therapist and client primary. As Scharff explains, the psychotherapist creates a holding environment for unconscious material to emerge and childhood wounds to be worked through—a process that’s mystifying and out of reach to many of us. In this video, Scharff brilliantly demonstrates this process: she remains neutral yet connected, follows her client’s lead, looks for the subtle affect and patterns of speech that signal underlying conflict, and ultimately encourages her client’s deeper issues of guilt towards his mother to surface and be addressed. Hosts Jon Carlson and Diane Kjos introduce Dr. Scharff and facilitate an enlightening discussion of the approach.