Abstract
This article explores the concepts of introjective and projective identification as a way to understand the dynamic of transference. Object relations theory highlights the importance of the objects in a child's life and how the child learns from his or her relationships with those objects. In therapy, the therapist becomes a new object in the client's life, thus activating the dynamic of transference. The way a therapist works with transference sheds light on his or her view of the role of the therapist and leads to a discussion of methodological differences between psychoanalysis and transactional analysis.