Melanie Klein: A Top Female Psychologist
Biographical Information Born on March 30, 1882, Melanie Klein would one day make a huge impact in the field of psychology. She grew up in Vienna, Austria- Hungary, but as an adult moved to Budapest, Berlin, and then London where she lived until she died of colon cancer on September 23, 1960 (Donaldson, 2002; Crann, 2010). Growing up Klein had a difficult childhood, two of her siblings died while she was still young, her father died when she was only 18-years-old and she did not have a good relationship with her mother. On top of having a difficult childhood Klein was unable to attend medical school for psychiatry, or any university, because of financial issues, so she married Arthur Klein, I chemical engineer instead (Crann, 2010). She suffered from depression, which was in part due to these circumstances of
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Thus, she created the play technique, which is where children’s pay is symbolic to unconscious material and is interpreted the same way that dreams and free association in adults are interpreted and this technique helped to later develop play therapy (Donaldson, 2002). Play therapy is where children express their thoughts and feelings through play. Klein was the first person to view children’s play as meaningful activity. Play therapy acts as an outlet for children to safely share their feelings through play, similar to as how an adult would go and seek a therapist to discuss their problems. This also allow the analyst to communicate with the child on an adequate level that would be most beneficial to the child. Play therapy is still a commonly used practice today, especially in children whom are nonverbal, lack efficient communication skills, or whom have experienced a harsh trauma and cannot fully express their feelings (“Play Therapy- Melanie Klein”,