The Ego And Its Defenses

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Mental mechanisms 2. Compensations 3. Conversion 4. Denial 5. Displacement 6. Dissociation 7. Fantasy 8. Idealization 9. Identification 0. Incorporation 11. Internalization 12. Introjection 13. Inversion 14. Emotional dynamisms 15. Projection 16. The king david reaction 17. Rationalization 18. Reaction formation 19. Rechannelization 20. Progression 21. Repression 22. Restitution 23. Substitution 24. Symbolization 25. Undoing 26. Minor ego defenses 27. Minor ego defenses.

Explores the nature and manifestations of defense mechanisms--repression, displacement, denial, etc. Traces ego defense theory and research from Freud's initial conceptualization through recent work in object-relations theory and other psychoanalytically-oriented approaches. Renowned contributors provide the rationale for their measurement techniques, describe them in detail, offer reliability and validity data along with illustrations of usefulness.

One of America's preeminent psychiatrists draws on his famous Study of Adult Development to give us an exhilarating look at how the mind's defenses work. What we see as the mind's trickery, George Vaillant tells us, is actually healthy. What's more, it can reveal the mind at its most creative and mature, soothing and protecting us in the face of unbearable reality, managing the unmanageable, ordering disorder. And because creativity is so intrinsic to this alchemy of the ego, Vaillant mingles his studies of obscure lives with psychobiographies of famous artists and others--including Florence Nightingale, Sylvia Plath, Anna Freud, and Eugene O'Neill.

While ego psychological theory still holds a pre-eminent position in clinical social work practice, the field has changed in many ways. This revised edition addresses these major changes, bringing the reader up to date.

Integrating theory, research, and applications, this book examines the defense mechanisms and their role in both normal development and psychopathology. It describes how children and adults mobilize specific kinds of defenses to maintain their psychological equilibrium and preserve self-esteem, particularly in situations of trauma or stress.

This book deals with one particular problem that is with the ways and means by which the ego wards off unpleasure and anxiety, and exercises control over impulsive behavior, affects, and instinctive urges. It is a major contribution to psychoanalytic psychology.