The Internal Triangle

This book presents the first new theory of female development based on drive theory since Helene Deutsch's Psychology of Women in 1945. Holmes posits an 'internal triangle'—an intrapsychic structure unique to female development. Consisting of mother and father introjects in relation to the self, it is set up on a fantasy level to help girls separate from and gain control over early objects. In this way, it functions for the girl like the penis does for the boy. Integration and realignment of the triangle, Holmes argues, occur at adolescence, during pregnancy and childbirth, at menopause and even in old age.

Based on over twenty years of clinical work with women, both individually and in groups, The Internal Triangle represents the first attempt by a woman to use Freud's drive theory to explain female development since Helene Deutsch's two-volume Psychology of Women in 1945. It presents a completely new hypothesis about the way girls use the introjection of parental figures much in the way that boys utilize the penis: to separate from powerful early objects and to gain control and mastery. The author offers an innovative new theory about how the female personality and the qualities associated with femininity develop, utilizing a fantasy internal triangle of mother, father and self. It follows development through the major milestones of the female life cycle: preoedipal, adolescence, childbirth, and menopause, with vivid clinical material illustrating each of the author's ideas. The second half of the book focuses on clinical data and technique which will aid therapists in working with women individually and in groups.

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The Internal Triangle: New Theories of Female Development
Chapter 3 The Object Within: Childbirth as a Developmental Milestone
Chapter 4 Menopause and Beyond: The Emerging Self
Chapter 5 What Do Women Want: An Answer
Chapter 6 Women in Group and Women's Groups
Chapter 7 Playing in a Women's Group
Chapter 8 Hell Hath No Fury: How Women Seek Revenge
Chapter 9 The Mind of the Mother