[1] His focus on the role of emotionality and aesthetics in promoting mental health has led to his being considered a key figure in the "post-Kleinian" movement associated with the psychoanalytic theory of thinking created by Wilfred Bion.
Initially his work with children was supervised by Esther Bick, who was creating a new and influential mode of psychoanalytic training at the Tavistock Clinic based on mother-child observation and following the theories of Melanie Klein.
He supervised psychoanalytically-oriented professionals in atelier-style groups throughout Europe, Scandinavia and South America, and his visits also included New York and California.
Several international congresses have focussed on his work: in London (1998), Florence (2000), Buenos Aires (2005), Savona (2005), Barcelona (2005) and Stavanger, Norway (2007).
[9] Meltzer's aesthetic interests, combined with the mother-baby model of early learning processes, led to seeing psychoanalysis itself as an art form.
Meltzer offers a Kleinian/Bionian appreciation of the phenomenon of claustrophobia, arguing that the claustrum emerges as a failure of integration in early childhood development.