in that projective identification can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, whereby a person, believing something false about another, influences or coerces that other person to carry out that precise projection. In extreme cases, the recipient may lose any sense of their real self and become reduced to the passive carrier of outside projections, as if possessed by them. This phenomenon has been noted in gaslighting (see Introjection § Gaslighting). Objects projected The objects (feelings, attitudes) extruded in projective identification are of various kinds – both good and bad, ideal and abjected. Hope may be projected by a client into their therapist, when they can no longer consciously feel it themselves; equally, it may be a fear of (psychic) dying which is projected. Aggression may be projected, leaving the projector's personality diminished and reduced; alternatively it may be desire, leaving the projector feeling asexual. The good/ideal parts of the personality may be projected, leading to dependence upon the object of identification; equally it may be jealousy or envy that are projected, perhaps by the therapist into the client. Intensity Projective identification may take place with varying degrees of intensity. In less disturbed personalities, projective identification is not only a way of getting rid of feelings but also of getting help with them. In narcissism, extremely powerful projections may take place and obliterate the distinction between self and other. Types Various types of projective identification have been distinguished over the years: Acquisitive projective identification – where someone takes on the attributes of someone else – versus attributive projective identification, where someone induces someone else to become one's own projection. Projective counter-identification – where the therapist unwittingly assumes the feelings and role of the patient to the point where he acts out this role within the therapeutic setting, a step beyond the therapist merely receiving the patient's projections without acting on them. Dual projective identification – a concept introduced by Joan Lachkar. It primarily occurs when both partners in a relationship simultaneously project onto one another. Both deny the projections, both identify with those projections. A division has also been made between normal projective identification and pathological projective identification, where what is projected is splintered into minute pieces before the projection takes place. In psychotherapy As with transference and countertransference, projective identification can be a potential key to therapeutic understanding, especially where the therapist is able to tolerate and contain the unwanted, negative aspects