Transference and Projective Identification

1994 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amnon Issacharoff ◽  
Winslow Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Projective Identification

From Container to Claustrum: Projective Identification in Couples

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Projective Identification ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Intimate Partners ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
As If

This paper is a contribution to the growing literature on the role of projective identification in understanding couples' dynamics. Projective identification as a defence is well suited to couples, as intimate partners provide an ideal location to deposit unwanted parts of the self. This paper illustrates how projective identification functions differently depending on the psychological health of the couple. It elucidates how healthier couples use projective identification more as a form of communication, whereas disturbed couples are inclined to employ it to invade and control the other, as captured by Meltzer's concept of "intrusive identification". These different uses of projective identification affect couples' capacities to provide what Bion called "containment". In disturbed couples, partners serve as what Meltzer termed "claustrums" whereby projections are not contained, but imprisoned or entombed in the other. Applying the concept of claustrum helps illuminate common feelings these couples express, such as feeling suffocated, stifled, trapped, held hostage, or feeling as if the relationship is killing them. Finally, this paper presents treatment challenges in working with more disturbed couples.

scholarly journals A Phenomenological Investigation into the Psychotherapist’s Experience of Processing Projective Identifications

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-197
Author(s):  
Mark Thorpe
Keyword(s):  
Projective Identification ◽  
Phenomenological Description ◽  
Phenomenological Method

Projective identification is arguably one of the most important, complex and difficult to understand psychoanalytic concepts. This paper discusses research which aims to develop a phenomenological description of the psychotherapist’s experience of identifying, containing and processing the client’s projective identifications. The researcher interviewed eight psychoanalytic psychotherapists in depth. The empirical phenomenological method was then used to explicate the transcribed interviews. The results are dialogued with clinical illustrations and the literature on projective identification. Waitara Tērā pea kō te whakapūreo tuakiri tētahi o ngā ariā tātarihanga hinengaro whakahirahira, matatini ki te whakamātau. Ko tā tēnei tuhinga, he matapaki i ngā rangahau e whai ana ki te whanake i tētahi whakaahua whakaataata wheako kaitātari hinengaro tohu, pupuri, taki pūreo tuakiri kiritaki. Tokowaru ngā kaitātari whakaora hinengaro i whakamātautau hōhonuhia e te kairangahau, ka whakamahia te huarahi whakamātau whakahirahira ki ngā tuhinga whakamātautau. Ko ngā hua i matapakihia ki te taha o ngā whakaahua haumanu me ngā tuhinga hāngai ki te whakapūreo tuakiri.

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