A theoretical discussion of the concepts of identification, projective identification, and the containing function is presented with the aim of isolating the clinical implications of differing definitions of projective identification on transferential and countertransferential issues. Following the analysis of a clinical vignette, the proposition is made that some analysands must rely on the unconscious fantasy of a powerful, if not omnipotent, transferential object in order to accept the necessary regression to dependence that must occur for the analyst's containing function to be experienced.