Projective processes as interpersonal communication

These comments respond to Carolyn Saari's paper ''The Concept of Projective Identification: A Narrative Critique.'' While projective identification is generally associated with a more Kleinian, intrapsychic, medical model of treatment, Winnicott and other object relations thinkers tend to define the concept in more flexible ways, They consider projective identification as both a defense and as a communication link between self and other, and between the internal objects and the external world, thus creating a move interpersonal treatment model which is appropriate for social workers to use in clinical practice.