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It is a very remarkable thing that the Unconscious of one human being can react upon that of another, without passing through the Conscious (Freud, S., 1915a, "The Unconscious, " Standard Edition, 14:194).
The telepathic act is supposed to consist of a normal mental act in one person instigating the same mental act in another person … One is led to the suspicion that this is the original archaic method of communication between individuals and that, in the course of phylogenetic evolution, it has been replaced by the better method of giving information … but the older method might have persisted in the background and still be able to put itself into effect under certain conditions (Freud, S., 1933, "Dreams and Occultism, " 1933[1932], 22:55).1
THE AIM OF THIS CONTRIBUTION IS to review and to elaborate in a synoptic way upon the concept of projective identification and its role in countertransference, particularly as they both are relevant to the treatment of primitive mental disorders and adult survivors of child abuse.2 My contribution follows, continues, revises, and