Concept
Benign and malignant regression
Michael Balint's distinction (1968) between two ways a patient may regress in analysis. In benign regression the patient seeks to be recognised and to be held by a trusting relation in which a new beginning becomes possible, and the demands stay modest. In malignant regression the patient seeks the gratification of instinctual cravings; each satisfaction calls for more, and the treatment can spiral into addiction-like dependence.
- Broader concept
- Regression
- Introduced by
- Michael Balint
- Key works
- 1
introduced by
- Michael Balint 1968 Balint distinguishes a regression that seeks recognition and makes a new beginning possible from one that seeks gratification and keeps escalating. The distinction is set out in The Basic Fault (1968). Dupont's dictionary entry dates it to Thrills and Regressions (1959), where Balint first wrote at length on regression.