From the author: I have already written about this psychological defense. But the events of the day reminded me, I decided to share. I was on the bus, there was a crush. I’m standing, reading, not touching anyone. People start coming out from behind, pushing me in the back, I move forward, towards the woman sitting in front of me. Well, it turns out that I press my legs and lower abdomen against her. The woman is about forty to forty-five years old, without makeup, hair in a ponytail, gray clothes with a closed collar. She turns to me: man, don’t press yourself against me. I answer peacefully: yes, am I Well, on purpose (they say, it’s a crush!) The woman looks directly at my groin, loudly: I’m sure you’re rubbing against me! You rub yours on purpose. – there’s a grimace of horror on my face, as if I had a mini-screen showing election campaign videos on my shorts.... I didn’t answer anything, spat and walked away to the nearest empty seat. But I think to myself: you have to want male attention so much that you attribute it to everyone you meet. Without noticing the situation, the environment, the conditions at all. More precisely, even this: to want so much, and at the same time so much to forbid oneself to want sexual experiences. I even felt a little sorry for her. If only I could find a man... I'd stop seeing maniacs. There is such a concept in practical psychology - projection. The concept is very broad; it is used in various interpretations and versions from physiology to psychocorrection. We are now more interested in the psychotherapeutic significance. I will try to describe this phenomenon briefly, and without diving into the internal features of approaches and therapeutic schools. Projection is the perception of some internal psychological material as external. It’s as if I’m projecting a part of myself onto another person. Why is this necessary? In order to protect consciousness from unpleasant information. For example, from accepting one’s own sexual need, since “sexual” is forbidden for a given person. Most likely for the above-mentioned young lady it would be unbearably embarrassing to admit that she likes attention from men... or (it’s scary to think!) that she can excite someone then or get aroused herself. With a high probability, this may be due to a parental prohibition (she was painted like a whore again!) or suffered mental trauma (not necessarily rape). We must understand that we [people] cannot live without projections. Normally, with the help of the projection mechanism, I guess and guess the reactions of the people around me. If I talk loudly on the phone on the bus, then at some point I might catch the eye of my neighbor. Projecting onto him my ideas about decency in public transport, I think: “why did I burst out, look, the man is dissatisfied!” But in fact, he may have just had a stomach ache... We cannot live without projections, but it is very useful to forget that projections can be erroneous. Check yourself. If some quality in the people around you evokes very strong feelings... how does this relate to the manifestation of these qualities in you??