Projective identification

The term was introduced into psychology by Melanie Klein in 1946, and its definition was further developed by the British psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion.

Projective identification is a complex psychological phenomenon that can function both as a defense mechanism and as a form of communication. In this text, I will explain what projective identification is and provide examples of how it manifests in everyday life.

Projection

To understand what ‘projective identification’ is, we first need to look at the term ‘projection.’

In the psychological domain, when we say projection, we usually think of two things — either a prediction of the future based on understanding the present, or the act of casting an image onto a surface.

In psychology, projection refers to a defense against one’s own unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and personality traits by ‘projecting’ (expelling) them onto another person.

It is an unconscious act where we attribute to others something we possess ourselves but do not acknowledge. By projecting unacceptable feelings, thoughts, and characteristics onto others, we protect our Ego.

However, projective identification goes beyond that.

Projective Identification as a Primitive Form of Communication

The dynamic of projective identification was described by psychoanalyst Bion, who argued that it is not only a pathological phenomenon but also a way a child communicates with the mother before the child develops the ability to speak and express emotions.

A baby experiences unbearable emotions it cannot manage. Possessing an omnipotent and primitive worldview, the baby, in its fantasy, projects those unbearable emotions onto the mother. It splits off that part of its personality and sends it into the mother, hoping that she will be able to ‘process’ them instead.

A mother attuned to her baby will understand the emotions troubling it and then take them in and ‘digest’ them. She processes these raw emotions for her baby and then returns them in a refined form. In this way, the baby is ‘prepared’ for the future by learning to process its own inner content as the mother did.

For example: The child feels overwhelming fear it cannot tolerate. A mother attuned to the child will recognize that her child is upset and scared (and she will feel partly scared herself). Then, a sufficiently responsive mother will regulate that fear and calm both herself and her child. She will hug, rock, and sing to the baby until it calms down.

The mother, in a way, felt the child’s emotions and acted as their teacher, i.e., she was able to transmit her knowledge of these emotions to the baby. She behaved as a thinking, compassionate, and soothing being.

However, if the mother has not developed the ability to regulate her own emotions, she becomes overwhelmed by the child’s emotional content and becomes anxious herself, unable to process those emotions. Such a child will seek someone else during growth who will be needed to process the emotions the mother could not. This is how mother and child communicate before the child develops speech.

Projective Identification as a Defense Mechanism

We said that projective identification is a primitive form of communication that a child uses to ‘digest’ unbearable emotions. But when adults continue to use this mechanism, it becomes pathological.

It is an unconscious way of establishing control by projecting one’s own unacceptable inner contents onto another person. That other person begins to experience the projected content and behaves accordingly (just as the mother feels the child’s fear and becomes scared herself). Now that other person identifies with the projected content, and the projector can exert control over that person.

For example: A person cannot recognize their own negative traits (e.g., sadistic urges) and projects them onto their partner, so they are sure that it is the partner, not themselves, who is the sadist. The partner begins to feel like a persecutor, bully, or tormentor (the identification part), and if they cannot recognize and process their own feelings, they might actually begin to behave that way. Seeing that the partner behaves like a sadist, the projector can now control their partner.

Projection has turned into projective identification because it is no longer a one-way process, but a two-way one that happens not only in the projector’s mind but also influences the recipient’s behavior.

The Dynamics of Projective Identification

“In projective identification, parts of the self and internal objects are split off and projected into an external object, which then becomes possessed, controlled, and identified with the projected parts.” (Segal – 1974)

Projective identification is characterized by a four-step successive process:

1. The unacceptable aspect of the self is unconsciously projected into another.
2. Boundaries between the two people are lost.
3. The projector exerts interpersonal pressure on the recipient of the projection, so that the person
4. Identifies with and behaves according to the projected material.

Conclusion

As examples show, projective identification is a complex mechanism.

Sometimes it is difficult to recognize who is the projector and who is the recipient. The end result may be a combination of both. People using this mechanism usually function on a borderline level.

Clients who come to therapy experience these undigested emotions as overwhelming, as something external that will destroy them, something completely disintegrating that will drive them mad and make them fall apart.

The therapist’s task is to recognize, accept, and process the projected material, thus enabling the patient to reintroject the content in a more acceptable form — just as the mother does with her baby.

Author: Nemanja Kurlagić – psychotherapist by the O.L.I. method