Differences between the Concepts of Splitting in Ferenczi and Spaltung in Freud

This article's objective is to demonstrate that the concept of splitting introduced by Ferenczi differs qualitatively from the Freudian concept of Spaltung and is a novel concept for clinical psychoanalysis. Throughout the review, the confusion regarding the concepts of splitting and Spaltung in the psychoanalytic literature is highlighted and an effort is made to recover the importance of the Ferenczian concept. This way, the article defines the concept of splitting through the works of Sandor Ferenczi; explains the concept of Spaltung in Freud and outlines the turning points of it in the different moments of his work; establishes differences and similarities between splitting and some terms with which it is often confused: disintegration, fragmentation, schism, cleavage, Spaltung, atomization, annihilation and denial; and, finally, establishes a relation between the Ferenczian concept of splitting and the Freudian Spaltung.