Projective Identification in Everyday Life 6/14/08

This workshop and discussion considers Projective Identification as it is experienced outside of the clinical setting and enacted in everyday life situations: political, cultural, religious, economic and relational. Mr. Bonerbo contends that as an unconscious presence, it is ubiquitous. Efforts are persistently made to exert influence over our daily lives in both subtle and unsubtle ways. We will be exploring these efforts as deriving from this pervasive defensive mechanism.

Melanie Klein introduced Projective Identification in 1946. The model describes the particular defensive mechanism employed by patients in clinical settings as an attempt to affect the analytic relation in a way to deal with both libidinal and aggressive drives. According to Klein, during the Paranoid-Schizoid phase of development, the drives are experienced as persecutory. This results in Projective Identification being routinely employed by patients in order to avoid affective contact. This process can be observed and interpreted in clinical settings during analysis. However, it can also be observed in numerous forums and settings.

In the first part of this discussion, Mr. Bonerbo will review the fundamental theory and concepts of Projective Identification as it understood clinically. (Participants are encouraged to read Thomas Ogdens', Matrix of the Mind). In the latter part of the workshop, examples from Dr. Justin Frank's book Bush on the Couch, Inside the Mind of the President, illustrating how Projective Identification plays a role in shaping political policy, will be explored. A scene from the movie "Magnolia" will be used to show an attempt to exert a false and dangerous authority. Participants are encouraged to bring in examples and experiences of how Projective
Identification is used in culture, religion and politics.

Charles A. Bonerbo, LCSW is a licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Psychoanalyst. He is the current Chair of Training for the Object Relations Institute, where he’s also a Faculty Member, Training Analyst, and Analytic Supervisor. He’s also a Supervisor for the Training Institute for Mental Health Couples Program. He is an Associate Adjunct Professor of New York University School of Social Work. Mr. Bonerbo is in private practice and works in other clinical settings in New York City.