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Projective identification: the container and reverie as concepts in applied psychoanalysis
The British Journal of Medical Psychology
|September 1, 1983
Summary
This study examines challenges in treating borderline patients within a therapeutic community. Difficulties arose from the therapeutic couple
Area of Science:
- Psychotherapy
- Psychoanalysis
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Borderline personality disorder presents complex treatment challenges.
- Psychotherapeutic communities offer a unique treatment setting.
- Understanding transference and countertransference is crucial.
Observation:
- Two borderline patients experienced difficulties in assessment and treatment.
- Challenges involved the therapeutic couple's (therapist and nurse) capacity for reverie and containment.
- Patients exhibited difficulties in symbol formation and whole object relationships.
Findings:
- Therapeutic couple's inability to manage pathological projections hindered patient reintrojection.
- Patients' excessive splitting and projective identification impaired symbol formation.
- Patients' attacks on therapeutic capacities impeded treatment progress.
Implications:
- Enhancing therapist-nurse dyad's reverie and containment is vital.
- Addressing patients' difficulties in symbol formation is key.
- Understanding and managing projective identification is crucial for borderline patient treatment.