Temporal and Spatial Constructs in Projective Processes

Spatial concepts are a significant aspect of present-day psychoanalytic thinking, even though they are not often thought of as spatial constructs per se. In considering defense mechanisms it is natural to think in spatial terms. Projection is often thought as that which is projected onto. Introjection is seen as a process in which that from the outside is taken inside. Objects are assumed to have both objective and subjective distances between them. Symbiotic oneness, partial separation as in separation-individuation, or total separation, for example, are representative of three points on a continuum of distance. In concepts such as projective identification, parts of the ego are viewed as being projected into an external object, taken in by the object, and then reintrojected by the projector. In addition these processes are thought of as taking place in the internal world. Here distance constructs become even more abstract but even more important for understanding. Matte Blanco (1975) points out that there has often been a taboo in considering the mind in spatial terms. Nevertheless, such conceptualizations can be quite useful. In fact it is difficult to even conceive of mental phenomena without the ideas of time or space. Past neglect of these concepts needs to be undone, and the often implicit reference needs to be made much more explicit.

Because such mechanistic and geometric conceptualizations are not often explicitly examined but are buried in rather loose language, both spatial and temporal ideas can in certain circumstances gloss over some of the complexity involved. The purpose here will be to consider geometric concepts in object relations theory with the view to examining these models in more detail in the hope of clarifying some of the ambiguity present in the literature. Both distance and time will be taken up. Projective and introjective processes will be the specific concern. Such a focus is not meant to be an investigation of time and space per se, b