The Danger of Change: The Kleinian Approach with Patients Who Experience Progress as Trauma

Confusing clinical standoffs, loyalty to self-destruction and abrupt terminations are challenging and under-examined problems for the modern psychoanalytic practitioner. The Danger of Change is a timely book that addresses the so-called resistant patient so many clinicians are familiar with.

Robert Waska blends theory based on Melanie Klein’s classical stance with the more contemporary Freudian/Kleinian school, to demonstrate how to understand patients that are resistant to progress. Divided into four sections, this book covers:

reluctant patients and the fight against change: caught between the paranoid and depressive world


greed and the dangers of change


interruptions to the process of change: loss, envy, and the death instinct


working toward change in the face of overwhelming odds


Extensive and detailed clinical material is used to bring clarity to subjects including symbolism, conflict resolution, projective identification, the depressive and paranoid positions, change and trust.

The Danger of Change brings hope and clarity to cases involving patients who experience progress as a threat to their emotional wellbeing. It will be of great interest to all practising psychoanalysts, as well as those studying psychoanalytic theory and practice.