Projective Techniques True “Mirror” of Self
Sensorium-oriented self-system peeps into the external reality in search of bodily pleasure and its resonance in mind. In the process itself, it encounters pains at times. Pleasure and pain are inevitably entwined. To have peace, harmony and the deep feelings of serenity in this stimuli- conglomerated world, our target should be the experience of bliss and just not pleasure. To attain bliss, our internality of self, needs to be fathomed in calm state of mind.
The world of projection radiates the internal elements in the subjective coloration of one’s own schema. Schema-content is once again the product of sensorium-transmitted external objects. The frames and fringes of projection need tender care to understand one’s internal contents and dynamics of personality. Such understanding differentiates between healthy and pathological frames of personalities. Assessment of mental health offers beads of comfort and, in their integration, a productive person for the society. Pathology, detected through projective techniques, opens up the gates of connection to initiate productivity in a person.
Today’s world has non-stop sparkling stimulations. Our sensoriums are overloaded with them. Our mind not only has sharp clarity of these stimulations, often they are clouded with doubts and anxieties, and crowded with too many contents to touch the “feel good” zones in life. Helplessness in interpretations is obvious in the absence of clarity. The added streaks are lack of trust and faith in life-contents. The resultant conditions are sufferings in enormity. The situation is calling for a change. Established efforts are there in Psychology domain to use projective techniques to know the unknown frames of the hidden self. SIS seems to be a very potent set in the context. The use of SIS in the Indian context is expected to bring out Indian personality dynamics one day. The paint-brushes of Psychology would be more eloquent then to speak our own stories.
In current academics, researches are umpteen in number. This is the indication of quest for knowledge in scientific frames. The backdrop scenario has life-canvas, with sketches of pleasures and pains, happiness and sufferings with boundless lines. The academic efforts are to trace the pathways of improving life-conditions through human knowledge, particularly in terms of realizational contents in experientiality, so that abundance of pains can be reduced in rates. The kaleidoscopic view of life shows bright colors with patches of darkness. These dark areas are either inevitability of life or else crafted by the unacknowledged primitivity of human mind. Psychology as science offers the avenues to accept traumas with grace, to attain and maintain stability in life. It also helps us to fathom the deep layers of hidden mind through projective assessment techniques. These are doors of self-knowledge that need to be kept open to usher in positive approaches to embroider the soothing fringes of personal experiences. We blame others in our frustrations without realizing this may be one’s unrealistic expectations that are getting baffled in the process or else, this is the blamer’s own projection in the form of projective identification on to someone else. True logical perspective developed within oneself is the “mantra” of attaining peace and escaping the clutches of mis-readings leading to pains.
Projective techniques are just not to know “others” in totality, but also to peep into one’s own world, develop self-knowledge to adopt right cleansers, to attain a crystal-clear mind.
Nilanjana Sanyal, Ph.D. Professor and Former Head, Dept of Psychology, University of Calcutta, 92 A.P.C. Road,
Kolkata 700009