ABSTRACT

Childrearing circumstances in which children feel unloved and rejected can trigger a powerful combination of problematic defences: identi cation with the rejecting object; disidenti cation with important parts of the self; projective identi cation of these unacceptable self-states on to others. These pathologically accommodative processes wreak havoc with identity, self-esteem and relationships. In signi cant ways, af icted individuals cease being themselves. Becoming the bad object, they projectively perceive others as their disowned, despised selves. Shocked victims of these patients’ hostile (second) nature feel they are being regarded very differently from how they view themselves. In analysis, these pathological identi catory processes can be revisited and revised, with signi cant therapeutic effects.