Primary identification: In support of a controversial concept. - The article takes its bearings from Freud's remarks on the significance of primary identification, only referred to as such at one single point in his writings (and this in the German original only; Strachey's translation does not employ the term). These remarks range from "earliest and original form of emotional tie" (1921c) and "the individual's most important identification" (with the "father of [his/her] personal prehistory") (19236) to the notes on "'Having' and 'being' in children" (1941f). Fenichel and Gaddini emphasize the proximity of the concept to imitation, Ferenczi to that of mimicry. Anna Freud, Freeman, Cameron & McGhie, Kristeva, and Loch point to its restitutional influence in severe pathologies. For Simo Salonen, primary identification is not so much restitutional in itself; instead, he sees the restitution of primary identification as a crucial factor in the treatment of psychotic patients. Sandler & Sandler, Amati-Mehler, and Ogden have linked primary identification with sensory perception. Alain de Mijolla has pointed to the absence of primary identification in Strachey's English translation of Freud's works. Mirror neurons represent a neurobiological correlative to primary identification. In the article, a case vignette indicates the clinical relevance of primary identification and relates it to Bion's reflections on caesura, pre-conception, and the "emotional storm." The author underlines the difference between primary and projective identification.
