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Sep 06

Project Management

By Jay Slupesky
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Infidelity


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One of the more interesting defense mechanisms is projection, which was first described by Freud. In projection, one attributes his/her own unacceptable or unwanted thoughts or/and emotions to others. In other words, whatever you unconsciously don’t like about yourself is what you really despise in other people.  

All defense mechanisms serve to reduce anxiety, and projection is no different. Projection reduces anxiety by allowing a person to express unwanted subconscious desires without letting the conscious mind recognize them.

In couples therapy projection can crop up in a very interesting way. Someones I will work with a couple in which one partner has severe “trust issues” and constantly suspects the other of cheating, even when there is absolutely no evidence of it. On more than one occasion, it has turned out (surprise!) that the overly suspicious partner is the one who had cheated! The unfaithful partner felt guilty about his/her own cheating, and so projected it onto the innocent partner to reduce anxiety.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 6th, 2008 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Infidelity.

One Response to “Project Management”

  1. Sue Massey Says:
    September 6th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    I found your site on Google and read a few of your other entires. Nice Stuff. I’m looking forward to reading more from you.

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