Editor's Introduction

Melanie Klein introduced the idea of projective identification rather late in her career, though this concept may ultimately prove to be among the most enduring of her contributions. Projection, of course, is a fundamental construct of classical psychoanalytic theory that involves the exteriorization and attribution of one's undesirable impulses to an other. Projective identification, however, goes further, positing that not only impulses but various parts of the self may be projected outward. This makes projective identification somewhat more complex than projection since in the case of projective identification aspects of the self are actually translocated into an other. The projector, via unconscious identification, (1) characteristically attempts to maintain some sort of linkage with the projected content and (2) attempts to exert control over the recipient of the projection. Contemporary object relations theorists such as Thomas Ogden have further emphasized the interpersonal nature of the process of projective identification, thereby enriching this idea and extending its value to clinicians working in clinical practice contexts that may be quite varied. In the first article, “Projective Identification in Sexual Abuse Survivors and Their Partners: Couple Treatment Implications,” Miehls applies the concept of projective identification to his work with survivors of sexual abuse and their partners. Adhering to contemporary Kleinian formulations of projective identification, Miehls emphasizes the importance of understanding relational dynamics as fundamentally collusive, representing the intrapsychic issues of both partners as they have been translocated via