What are the different branches of Psychoanalysis?

Question

I am trying to make a list of the main accepted branches of psychoanalysis to quiz a friend of mine. I don't know much about it and to learn more I need to know the main areas. So far I have

• Freudian Psychology
• Object Relations Theory
• Relations Theory
• Self-psychology

Does anyone know of a basic list of the main branches? My friend said these were the main ones, but I couldn't find a source to substantiate that and I want to verify these are indeed considered the main branches.

EDIT: By a "branch" or "school", I mean a general umbrella term people use to aggregate related trains of thought. In physics, this might be "general relativity" or "quantum mechanics".

Answer 1

In the context of the question I think it makes sense to limit the scope to earlier developments in psychoanalysis. Thompson (1957) gives an overview of what can be called psychoanalytic schools. She includes:

• Freudian psychoanalysis
• Individual psychology (Alfred Adler)
• Analytical psychology (Carl Gustav Jung)
• Object relations theory (Sándor Ferenczi, Otto Rank)
• (Wilhelm Reich)
• Karen Horney (sometimes denoted »Culturalist Psychoanaysis«)
• Erich Fromm (sometimes denoted »Culturalist Psychoanaysis«)
• Harry Stack Sullivan (sometimes denoted »Culturalist Psychoanaysis«)

On the other hand, several psychoanalytic psychologies can be distinguished. Following a systematization by Gottfried Fischer, there are:

• Drive theory/drive psychology (psychodynamic theory)
• Ego psychology (Freudian psychoanalytic psychology/structural theory)
• Object relations theory
• Self psychology

Newer psychoanalytic schools comprise e. g. Lacanian psychoanalysis, interpersonal psychoanalysis and relational psychoanalysis – but for a more comprehensive list see Kernberg (2001) and Gabbard (2009).

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Literature:

• Frosh, Stephen (2012). A Brief Introduction to Psychoanalytic Theory. London: Palgrave.
• Gabbard, Glen O. (2009) Textbook of Psychotherapeutic Treatments. American Psychiatric Publishing. (Ch. 1: Theoretical Models of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy)
• Kernberg, Otto F. (2001). Recent Developments in the Technical Approaches of English-Language Psychoanalytic Schools. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Volume LXX, Issue 3, 519–547.
• Thompson, Clara Mabel (1957). The different schools of psychoanalysis. American Journal of Nursing, 57, 1304–1307.
• Thompson, Clara Mabel & Mullahy, Patrick (1951). Psychoanalysis: Evolution and Development (3rd ed.). New York: Hermitage House.