Reclaiming the rubbish: A study of projective mechanisms

Projection is a defence mechanism involving the expulsion of unwanted or unbearable parts of the personality, which are then located in others and thereby disowned. My aim in this essay is to explore the development of theoretical ideas about projection, and how they have affected contemporary theories of psychoanalytic practice. I shall illustrate the application of some of these ideas using two case examples.     

A Christmas fairy tale

The paper takes its title from Freud's early paper on the neuroses of defence. Using approaches based on the psychoanalytic study of mythology, the author reviews the emotional and symbolic significance of Santa Claus as embodying forms of meaning at Christmas. Historical data and mythic images are considered, using as a means of interpretation ideas from Freud, Jung, Klein and Winnicott. The suggestion emerges that Santa Claus personifies a restitution of the primal scene that has been destroyed in primal phantasy. Some applications of these ideas are considered in relation to psychoanalytic approaches to work organization.