{"id":247476,"date":"2025-07-07T17:42:40","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=247476"},"modified":"2025-07-07T17:42:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:42:43","slug":"in-therapy-with-severely-disturbed-children-one-of-mahlers-most-common-goals-was","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/07\/in-therapy-with-severely-disturbed-children-one-of-mahlers-most-common-goals-was\/","title":{"rendered":"In therapy with severely disturbed children, one of Mahler\u2019s most common goals was"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In therapy with severely disturbed children, one of Mahler\u2019s most common goals was <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A. to overcome internal object constancy B. to increase the infant\u2019s independence C. to promote a more pleasurable symbiosis D. to teach the child essential social skills<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-6-color\">The correct answer and explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The correct answer is <strong>A. to overcome internal object constancy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Margaret Mahler was a psychoanalyst known for her work in the development of attachment theory and her work with severely disturbed children. One of her key concepts was <em>object constancy<\/em>, which refers to the ability of a child to maintain a stable internal image of significant others (such as caregivers), even in their absence. This development is crucial in the formation of healthy emotional bonds and a sense of security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the context of therapy with severely disturbed children, overcoming internal object constancy is often one of the most important goals. These children may have had early disruptions in their attachment experiences or inconsistent caregiving, leading to difficulties in maintaining a sense of emotional security or stable attachment to others. Such children might struggle with emotional regulation, experience heightened anxiety, or have difficulties trusting others, all of which are related to the lack of internal object constancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therapeutic interventions focus on helping these children internalize a stable and reliable mental representation of caregivers or other significant figures, even when they are not physically present. Achieving this goal helps the child develop a sense of safety and emotional consistency, which is essential for healthy development. Overcoming the inability to hold onto positive representations of caregivers is fundamental for creating more effective therapeutic relationships and fostering healthier attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By fostering internal object constancy, the child can begin to explore their emotional world more independently and develop the resilience needed to face challenges in their relationships and in the broader world. Thus, Mahler\u2019s therapeutic approach emphasizes helping children navigate this developmental challenge in order to promote emotional healing and stability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In therapy with severely disturbed children, one of Mahler\u2019s most common goals was A. to overcome internal object constancy B. to increase the infant\u2019s independence C. to promote a more pleasurable symbiosis D. to teach the child essential social skills The correct answer and explanation is: The correct answer is A. to overcome internal object [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247476\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}