Raw Object Identification

Am J Psychoanal. 2023 Sep;83(3):349-370. doi: 10.1057/s11231-023-09416-8.

Abstract

This paper attempts to deal with a specific kind of pathological identification-"raw object identification"-which tends to appear as concrete physiological phenomena, trying to escape meaning and integration. These somatic manifestations stem from early traumatic experiences with a meaningful object and entrap-as revealed through analysis-specific significant qualities of that object. A massive splitting ensues between body and mind, self and object, relation and identification. Certain properties of the object are then experienced as a foreign body in the subject and are defensively identified with. Thus, raw object identification is often manifested in stubborn bodily symptoms.

Keywords: foreign-body; identification; projective identification; siblings; somatization; transference; trauma; unconscious-phantasy.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Mental Disorders*
  • Object Attachment
  • Psychoanalytic Therapy*
  • Transference, Psychology
  • Unconscious, Psychology