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Common Ego Defense Mechanisms
Automatic patterns of thinking aimed at reducing anxiety
25
Social Work
Graduate
12/06/2014

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Term
Repression
Definition
the action or process of suppressing a feeling, thought or desire so that it remains unconscious. The key to repression is that people do it unconsciously, so they often have very little control over it.
Term
Reaction Formation
Definition
the converting of unwanted or dangerous thoughts, feelings or impulses into their opposites.
Term
Projection
Definition
the attribution of a person’s undesired thoughts, feelings or impulses onto another person. Projection is used especially when the thoughts are considered unacceptable for the person to express, or they feel completely ill at ease with having them.
Term
Regression
Definition
the reversion to an earlier stage of development in the face of unacceptable thoughts or impulses.
Term
Denial
Definition
the refusal to accept reality or fact, acting as if a painful event, thought or feeling did not exist. It is considered one of the most primitive of the defense mechanisms because it is characteristic of early childhood development.
Term
Displacement
Definition
the redirecting of thoughts feelings and impulses directed at one person or object, but taken out upon another person or object.
Term
Intellectualization
Definition
the overemphasis on thinking when confronted with an unacceptable impulse, situation or behavior without employing any emotions whatsoever to help mediate and place the thoughts into an emotional, human context.
Term
Rationalization
Definition
putting something into a different light or offering a different explanation for one’s perceptions or behaviors in the face of a changing reality.
Term
Undoing
Definition
the attempt to take back an unconscious behavior or thought that is unacceptable or hurtful. By “undoing” the previous action, the person is attempting to counteract the damage done by the original comment, hoping the two will balance one another out.
Term
Compensation
Definition
a process of psychologically counterbalancing perceived weaknesses by emphasizing strength in other arenas.
Term
Sublimation
Definition
the channeling of unacceptable impulses, thoughts and emotions into more acceptable ones.
Term
Acting Out
Definition
the individual copes with stress by engaging in actions rather than reflecting upon internal feelings
Term
Altruism
Definition
Satisfying internal needs through helping others
Term
Humor
Definition
Pointing out the funny or ironic aspects of a situation
Term
Dissociation
Definition
Breaking off part of memory, consciousness, or perception of self or the environment to avoid a problem situation
Term
Compartmentalization
Definition
Lesser form of dissociation. Parts of self are separated from awareness of other parts and behaving as if one had separate sets of values
Term
Suppression
Definition
Conscious exclusion of unacceptable desires, thoughts, or memories from the mind.
Term
splitting
Definition
explain the coexistence within the ego of contradictory states, representative of self and others, as well as attitudes to self and others; other individuals or the self is perceived as "All good or all bad.
Term
Projective Identification
Definition
falsely attributing to another his or her own unacceptable feelings, impulses, or thoughts; Not infrequently, the individual induces the very feelings in others that were first mistakenly believed to be there, making it difficult to clarify who did what to whom first.
Term
Isolation
Definition
The splitting-off of the emotional components from a thought.
Term
Devaluation
Definition
he individual deals with emotional conflict or internal or external stressors by attributing exaggerated negative qualities to self or others.
Term
Avoidance
Definition
the effort to avoid dealing with a stressor
Term
Idealization
Definition
Overestimation of the desirable qualities and underestimation of the limitations of a desired object.
Term
Identification
Definition
Similar to introjection, but of less intensity and completeness. The unconscious modeling of one's self upon another person
Term
turning against the self
Definition
the aggression and hostility that is felt towards another person is redirected towards the self
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