Editing Object relations theory (section)

===Projective identification===
As a specific term, [[projective identification]] is introduced by Klein in "Notes on some schizoid mechanisms."<ref name="Klein 1946">{{Cite book
 | last= Klein
 | first= Mélanie
 | chapter= Notes on some schizoid mechanisms
 | year= 1946
 | title= Envy and gratitude and other works 1946-1963
 | publisher= Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis
 | publication-date= 1975
 | isbn= 978-0-02-918440-0
 }}</ref>
<blockquote>
[Projection] helps the ego to overcome anxiety by ridding it of danger and badness. Introjection of the good object is also used by the ego as a defense against anxiety. ... The processes of splitting off parts of the self and projecting them into objects are thus of vital importance for normal development as well as for abnormal object-relation. The effect of introjection on object relations is equally important. The introjection of the good object, first of all the mother's breast, is a precondition for normal development ... It comes to form a focal point in the ego and makes for cohesiveness of the ego. ... I suggest for these processes the term 'projective identification'.<ref name="Klein 1946" />{{rp|6–9}}
</blockquote>
Klein imagined this function as a defense which contributes to the normal development of the infant, including ego structure and the development of object relations. The [[introjection]] of the good breast provides a location where one can hide from persecution, an early step in developing a capacity to self-soothe.

[[Thomas Ogden|Ogden]] identifies four functions that projective identification may serve. As in the traditional Kleinian model, it serves as a defense. Projective identification serves as a mode of communication. It is a form of object relations, and "a pathway for psychological change."<ref name="Ogden 77">{{cite book |last=Ogden |first=Thomas H. |title=Projective Identification and Psychotherapeutic Technique |publisher=Jason Aronson |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-87668-446-7 |location=Lanham, MD}}</ref>{{rp|21}} As a form of object relationship, projective identification is a way of relating with others who are not seen as entirely separate from the individual. Instead, this relating takes place "between the stage of the subjective object and that of true object relatedness".<ref name="Ogden 77" />{{rp|23}}