About the Margaret Mahler Literature Prize

The Margaret S. Mahler Literature Prize is presented annually to a researcher or practitioner whose work contributes to the understanding and development of Mahler's separation-individuation theory. Recipients are selected by the Foundation board and announced at the May meeting in Philadelphia.

Past Winners

Elizabeth E. Bader, Esq., a mediator based in San Francisco, has been awarded the 2011 Margaret S. Mahler Literature Prize for her outstanding work on the psychology of conflict resolution. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, social science, and neuroscience, among other disciplines, Bader’s work (2010, 2011) discusses the role that issues of self and identity — commonly referred to as “face” issues – play in the resolution of interpersonal conflict. Her work discusses the following:

A fundamental question for conflict resolution professionals is: why does interpersonal conflict trigger issues of face and self-identity? Bader reads the work of Mahler and her colleagues as demonstrating that the sense of self and self-identity emerges as a result of early conflict with caretakers and with the environment. As a result, interpersonal conflict becomes linked in our minds with the struggle to forge and maintain our sense of identity.
Bader also notes that many leading theorists have recognized that with the development of a healthy sense of self, human beings also develop a reality-based and objective, but ideally also self-reflective, sense of self-and-other. For example, she notes connections between what Mahler and her colleagues call “self and object constancy,” Peter Fonagy and his colleagues call “reflective functioning;” and intersubjective theorists describe as the capacity for mutual recognition.
A similar journey, Bader argues, occurs during what she describes as the IDR cycle in mediation: a pattern of narcissistic inflation (overconfidence), deflation, and realistic resolution which is typically experienced by parties in mediation.
The similarity exists, according to Bader, because what Mahler describes— and what mediation epitomizes— is the process of reality testing. It thus inherently involves narcissistic challenges.

Elizabeth Bader’s work has been published in the Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal (2010), the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies (2011) and on mediate.com (2010a, 2010b). For more on her work, see www.elizabethbader.com.

Fred Pine, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology at Albert Einstein Medical College has been awarded the 33rd annual Margaret Mahler Literature Prize. Dr. William Singletary, president of the Margaret S. Mahler Psychiatric Research Foundation announced the award citing Dr. Pine for his outstanding contributions to psychoanalytic clinical and developmental theory.

Singletary noted Dr. Pine's dedication to the field of early childhood development and his commitment to psychoanalysis, highlighting his involvement in Mahler's pioneering research observing mother-child pairs in naturalistic settings. That research resulted in publication of The Psychological Birth of the Human Infant a seminal work in understanding the process of early infant development, which Pine co-authored with Margaret S. Mahler, M.D. and Anni Bergman, Ph.D. Dr. Pine's work on using multi-theoretical perspectives to understand psychoanalytic treatment is known and appreciated throughout the world.

"We at the Mahler Foundation believe that the work begun by Margaret Mahler and her colleagues has provided us with important insights and understanding of how important the early mother-child relationship is, " said Singletary, "and the work of Dr. Pine and other continues to deepen our understanding of how the process of early development can affect -- for better or worse -- development throughout a person's life."

Calvin Settlage, M.D. for outstanding contributions concerning development across the life span;

Vamik Volkan, M.D. for scholarly contributions to the literature, and

Henri Parens, M.D. for contributions to understanding the development of aggression in childhood and education for parenting.

For further information about the Mahler Literature Prize, contact the Mahler Foundation, 254 Kent Road, Wynnewood, PA 19096.

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The Margaret S. Mahler Psychiatric Research Foundation
254 Kent Road
Wynnewood, PA 19096