# Projective identification

- Link: https://clearingintheforest.org/projective-identification/
- Published: 2026-10-20T22:00:03+00:00
- Author: Saal_clearingforest

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[ All pages ](https://clearingintheforest.org/?page_id=267#pages)

[ Freud ](https://clearingintheforest.org/?page_id=467)

Freud's friend →

[ Ferenczi ](https://clearingintheforest.org/?page_id=468)

Ferenczi's patient →

[ Klein ](https://clearingintheforest.org/?page_id=469)

Klein's rival →

[ Anna Freud ](https://clearingintheforest.org/?page_id=470)

Klein's patient →

[ Bion ](https://clearingintheforest.org/?page_id=471)

Feelings on the Move · 3 of 5

# Projective identification

Making someone else feel your feeling

MK

Meet the person

## Melanie Klein

1882–1960

Born in Vienna. As a young mum she was treated by **Ferenczi** in Budapest, and 
he encouraged her to work with children. She moved to London in 1926 and did something
new: she watched how children **played with toys** to understand their minds. In
1946 she named projective identification.

## The idea

This is projection, turbo-charged. You don’t just _imagine_ your feeling in someone
else — you push it _into_ them, and they really start feeling it. Like a hot potato:
you can’t hold it, so you throw it, and now **they’re** the one getting burned.

Projective identification: my feeling ends up in you, for real.

## Has this ever happened to you?

Caught someone’s bad mood within 10 minutes, though nothing happened to you?Felt
useless around someone who, it turned out, felt useless themselves?Ended up shouting
when the other person seemed to want a fight?Felt nervous for a friend who was acting
totally calm?

**Catch it:** ask “Was I feeling this _before_ they arrived?” If not, it may be 
theirs. Therapists use this trick every day to understand their patients.

## Spot it

Leo is scared about his exam but acts totally cool. By evening his mum is the one
panicking about it. What happened?

[ ← Ferenczi ](https://clearingintheforest.org/?page_id=468)

[ Next: Introjective identification → ](https://clearingintheforest.org/?page_id=470)

▸ For grown-ups: sources

[Ref: Klein M. (1946) Notes on some schizoid mechanisms. International Journal of
Psycho-Analysis 27:99–110]

[Ref: Ogden T.H. (1979) On projective identification. International Journal of Psycho-
Analysis 60:357–373]

Written by **Dr Saal Seneviratne**, Consultant Psychiatrist at [The Burlington Clinic](https://www.theburlingtonclinic.com),
London · Last reviewed 21 October 2026 · [About these pages](https://clearingintheforest.org/about/)