Defense Mechanisms

Front 1

Denial

Back 1

unconcious failure to acknowledge an event, thought or feeling that is too painful for concious awareness

Front 2

Displacement

Back 2

the transference of feelings to another person or object

Front 3

Identification

Back 3

attempt to be like someone or emulate the personality, traits or behaviors of another person

Front 4

intellectualization

Back 4

using reason to avoid emotional conflicts

Front 5

introjection

Back 5

in corporatiion of values or qualities of an admired person or group into one's own ego structure

Front 6

isolation

Back 6

seperation of an unacceptable feeling, idea or impulse from ones thought process

Front 7

projection

Back 7

attribuiting one's own thoughts or impulses to another person

Front 8

rationalization

Back 8

offering an acceptable, logical explanation to make unacceptable feelings and behaviors acceptable

Front 9

reaction formation

Back 9

development of concious attitudes and behaviors that are the opposite of what is really felt

Front 10

regression

Back 10

reverting to an earlier level of development when anxious or highly stressed

Front 11

repression

Back 11

the involuntary exclusion of a painful thought or memory from awareness

Front 12

sublimation

Back 12

substitution of unacceptable feeling by a more socially acceptable one

Front 13

supression

Back 13

the intentional exclusion of feelings or ideas

Front 14

undoing

Back 14

communication or behavior done to negate a previously unacceptable behavior