Defense Mechanisms

Question 1

Rationalization

Answer 1

• Mature DM
• plausible reasons to justify an action of opinion
• helps a person cope with disappointments by blaming external circumstances
• Ex: “I would be better off at another company” after getting fired
• An abused spouse may rationalize hitting their children as “punishment” after being hit by their spouse

Question 2

Repression

Answer 2

• refuses to let unacceptable impulses into conscious awareness
• Ex: a young boy has a fear of dogs but cannot remember the event that caused him to be afraid in the first place
• Ex: after years of celibacy, the person begins to eat copious amounts of food ; they are not even letting their unacceptable impulses come into existence and the do so by using food to repress these feelings/desires

Question 3

Denial

Answer 3

• Primitive DM
• distorts/refuses to accept reality
• acting like something never happened
• Ex: an alcoholic is in denial when she attends a recovery program but continues to drink alcohol

Question 4

Projection

Answer 4

• Primitive DM
• places unacceptable feeling from the person feeling them onto another person
• Ex: an anxious student will complain about their anxious friend who is also a student

Question 5

Displacement

Answer 5

• Mature DM
• when affect is transferred from one object to another
• A man is upset with his wife, but instead takes his anger out on his children by yelling at them

Question 6

Projective Identification

Answer 6

• A step further than projection
• The person who has been projected onto start believing the projection
• Ex: “I gained weight but instead I tell my friend that she gained weight, and she starts to believe it even though she has not gained any weight.”

Question 7

Intellectualization

Answer 7

• Mature DM
• process by which content is separated by repressed affect
• Ex; When someone is talking about their trauma like it was a scripted story
  Ex: a victim of sexual assault may research the criteria of PTSD rather than addressing the emotional pain in therapy

Question 8

Asceticism

Answer 8

• Characterized by rigor and self-denial
• Ex: someone refuses to eat or drink until they complete their major work project

Question 9

Sublimation

Answer 9

• Mature DM
• displace unacceptable instincts for constructive and socially acceptable behaviors
• Ex: a person with aggressive impulse becomes a kickbox instructor
  -Ex: a person who struggles with anxiety uses soccer to get rid of all the pent up energy

Question 10

Introjection

Answer 10

• Introjection is the internalization of outside events or characteristics of other people
• Ex: A victim will identify with the aggressor’s behaviors to help protect them

Question 11

Identification

Answer 11

• Mature DM
• process by which qualities of ana external object are absorbed into one own personality
• introjection/internalization turn into identification over a period of time
• Ex: A Bruce Lee fan uses identification when becoming a disciplined martial art champion
• Ex: A young person is using identification when deciding to follow in their father’s footsteps and becoming a lawyer

Question 12

Reaction Formation

Answer 12

• Primitive DM
• when unacceptable impulses are expressed as their opposite
• helps release anxiety and guilt associated with true thoughts/feelings/impulse’s
• Ex: When a closeted gay man only dates women and criticizes other gay men

Question 13

Undoing

Answer 13

• process by which we avoid being punished for undesirable thoughts or actions
• Ex: a person is overly nice to a person she just insulted in her mind
• Ex: A cheating wife unconsciously starts buying their husband lavish gifts