BJP Evidence-Based Mental Health
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Psychiatric Bulletin Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ploye, P. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ploye, P. M.

The British Journal of Psychiatry 145: 55-58 (1984)
© 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

A note on two important aspects of Kleinian theory. 'Projective identification' and 'idealisation'

PM Ploye

The concept of 'projective identification', introduced by Melanie Klein and extensively used by her followers, is still held by many to be highly controversial and difficult to understand. Great importance is also attached by Kleinian workers to what they describe as the infant's early use of 'idealisation' as a defence against anxiety. A hypothesis is presented according to which both mechanisms could be seen as the continuation or persistence, in mental form and in early post-natal life, of some of the ways in which the unborn child could be said to relate to the mother physically during the last few months of intrauterine life.




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Psychiatric Bulletin Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists.