ABSTRACT
Adult individuals can typically refer to numerous aspects of their identity related to social or professional status—one may simultaneously perceive oneself as a mother or father, a physician or carpenter, or someone who enjoys specific sports or recreational activities. The individual core identity is connected with a realistic body image and a sense of inner solidarity and is associated with the capacity for solitude and clarity of one’s gender. Akhtar also connected the individual’s core identity with large-group identity, such as a national, ethnic or religious identity. Akhtar’s last characteristic of an individual’s identity refers to a link between one’s personal core identity and large-group identity. The key issue during psychoanalysis of an individual with borderline personality organization is to help the person eventually reach a “crucial juncture”. The term “crucial juncture” was first used by Melanie Klein in 1946.
