Thematic Analysis, Developmental Processes and Story Courses in the Fairy Tales by Object Relations Theory

This study was aimed at looking into fairy tales from object relations theory’s perspective to analyze the concepts, developmental processes and story courses. The links between psychic structure of fairy tales’ characters and their object relations through developmental phases discovered. Endeavors was also made to discover a model to improve therapeutic process based on the analysis of fairy tales’ structure, as well as, their ending from the theory’s point of view. The present research was carried out through qualitative method and the data was analyzed through thematic analysis. The sampling method was purposive and population included the German collection of “Grimms' Fairy Tales”. The findings of the research showed that the concepts, developmental phases, psychological problems and therapy process in object relations theory can be traced in the fairy tales too. In all of the stories, the hero went through the same required phases of psychological development. Besides, the ending of the stories corresponded to the psychological maturity. According to the findings of this research, therapists can be inspired by the fairy tales’ symbolism to guide clients through different stages of psychological development. As the fairy tales are rooted in our individual and collective unconscious and are close to human being’s nature, they can offer authentic solutions to reach a genuine self.