Margaret Mahler and the phases of child development

Margaret Mahler was one of those figures of psychoanalysis who made great contributions to understanding the child’s mind.. She was a doctor and pediatrician, but her own experience and some situations she witnessed led her to lean towards analytical practice.

In particular, Margaret Mahler’s greatest contribution was to evolutionary psychology. He managed to define and characterize the stages through which the child goes from birth to early childhood. In his theory, the child’s relationship with his mother is of fundamental importance.

To develop your model of emotional development Mahler started from Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychosexual development of the child.. However, he also draws on other authors, such as Sandor Ferenczi and Donald Winnicott, as sources, in addition to his own clinical practice.

The initial context

Margaret Mahler was born in Sopron (Austro-Hungarian Empire) on May 10, 1897. His father was a doctor of prestige, who sought to educate her as if she were a boy and not a girl. Back then, the world of knowledge was not for women. But Margaret’s father saw it differently and this, in one way or another, marked her.

Soon his sister Suzanne was born. Her mother was a housewife who was unhappy with her life. He had some apprehension towards Margaret and instead developed a deep attachment by Suzanne. It is very likely that this situation was the germ of the theory that Mahler developed years later.

Her father encouraged her to go to Budapest at the age of 16 to study at university. There he came into contact with the Budapest Circle, the psychoanalytic group created and directed by Sandor Ferenczi. in the company of Michael Balint and Imre Hermann. Although he liked Freudian ideas, he did not decide to follow psychoanalysis.

A turning point in the life of Margaret Mahler

Margaret Mahler originally began studying art history at the University of Budapest. However, she soon realized that her scientific spirit was stronger than her artistic concerns. So he derived his desire to learn about medicine. He moved to the University of Munich and did an internship in pediatrics there..

At that time anti-Semitism was beginning to gain strength. She and her sister were arrested, simply for being Jewish. This led her to leave for Jena, where she finished her studies, in 1922. That same year she experienced an event that marked her life forever.

It all happened in a night clinic, where Margaret Mahler provided her services. A man even admitted his little son because he was growing poorly. That same night the child died, without an identified medical cause to justify it.. This made Mahler start thinking about the role the mind plays.

Exile and work

In 1922 he also had to leave Germany and settled in Vienna. There he underwent a supervisory analysis with Helen Deutsch and devoted himself completely to psychoanalysis. At 39 she married a chemist named Paul Mahler, who led a disorderly life. Shortly after, the Nazis invaded Austria. Thanks to the good offices of the widow of the viceroy of India, who had been their patient, the Mahlers were able to escape to England..

They then moved to the United States, where Margaret was not very well received. Additionally, she tried to get her parents to meet with her, but they did not accept. His father died during those years and his mother was transferred to the Auschwitz camp, where she died..

Despite everything, Margaret Mahler’s career began to take off in American lands. She was given a teaching position at the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute in 1950. There developed his theory of child development and also created a psychoanalytic method for caring for children, which included the presence of the mother.

For almost all of her life, Margaret Mahler experienced successive episodes of depression. However, her intelligence and her faith in her work always allowed her to overcome. His patient and constant work allowed him to create the famous theory of separation-individuation. He worked until his death, in 1985, at age 88.

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