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A 51-year-old actress insists that she can play the role of a teenage rock star in spite of her obvious matronly appearance.

Denial

A baseball player, after being thrown out of the game by an umpire, kicks the water cooler in the dug out.

Displacement

A boy is pushed down by a much larger boy on the playground. He runs across the field and as soon as the threat of the larger boy is removed, he finds a smaller boy than he, and hits him.

Displacement

A child, hating his younger sister, tells his mother that the sister in fact hates him.

Projection

A child losing an argument to a friend exclaims, "You are so stupid!"

Projection

A client seeks therapy explaining that he is angry and very depressed because his wife has run off with another man. When asked to share his feelings, he talks about the details of how his wife met this other man. His report sounds more like a story about other people. No affect is observable as he speaks.

Intellectualization

A defense mechanism in which an individual deals with emotional conflict or stress by pointing out the funny or ironic content of the situation.

Humor

A defense mechanism in which one focuses on the intellectual aspects of an event rather than the troubling emotions associated with it. Removal of oneself from the situation by focusing on logic and words is the method.

Intellectualization

A defense mechanism in which one focuses on the intellectual aspects of an event rather than the troubling emotions associated with it. Removal of oneself from the situation by focusing on logic and words is the method.

Intellectualization

A famous politician has insisted on invading a country because of its threat of weapons of mass destruction. The CIA has stated that there is no evidence of WMDs, but he continues to rant about the serious threat of WMDs.

Denial

A grandmother is very nervous around her grandchildren but cannot admit this to herself. She tells her son not to bring the grandchildren over because her cat is very nervous around small children.

Projection

A loss of integration of the consciousness, memory, perception of self or surroundings, or sensory/motor behavior.

Dissociation

A man who smoked for forty years was told that he had terminal lung cancer. He blamed his condition on the tobacco company. He reasoned that they had deceived him into thinking that there was no danger to his health in spite of the many warnings he had received from other sources.

Rationalization

A paramedic who sees death and tragedy on a daily basis has developed a sense of humor that is quite macabre. His coworkers are convinced that he uses jokes to deal with his inability to accept the horrible things he witnesses.

Humor

A police officer, wounded in an attempted bank robbery, is sent to a counselor to work out his distress and nightmares. He avoids talking about his feelings and wants to talk about the lousy stopping power of a .22 bullet, the caliber that he was hit with.

Intellectualization

A receptionist for a large corporation is fired after nineteen years of service. Although she is suffering from severe depression, she only wants to talk about the importance of her job and what she did. As far as the therapist can determine, feelings are off limits.

Intellectualization

A soldier who lost his arm in combat is refusing to deal with his feelings toward this traumatic event. He talks about the importance of the war and shows pictures of the Hummer he was driving when he was shot. He is very caught up in the details of his service.

Intellectualization

A very talented athlete in high school is only 5 feet, 5 inches tall. Knowing that no one has ever played in the NBA with such a short stature, he insists that he will be a superstar in the NBA.

Denial

A well-known politician has been confronted with the charge that he had an extramarital affair. He refuses to admit his guilt even to himself stating, "I did not have sex with that woman."

Denial

A wife, furious with her husband's waste of his pay check, shouts, "Why are you so angry?"

Projection

A wife is found standing over the body of her dead husband holding a smoking gun. She has no memory of shooting him, but the evidence all points to her having killed him.

Repression

A young man, wanting to be a comedian, is told that he must change his name from Alex Hitler to something less offensive to be a success. He refuses to accept this and plans his career as Alex Hitler.

Denial

Adopting the opposite belief or emotion because expressing the true one will cause anxiety or dissonance

Reaction Formation

Adopting the opposite belief or emotion because expressing the true one will cause anxiety or dissonance

Reaction Formation

After 76 rejections of his novel, a writer is sure that the next submission will be successful.

Denial

After a trying day at work in which she was berated by her boss for poor job performance, a mother walks into her house and immediately commences to yell at her two children for a minor behavioral problem.

Displacement

After an unusually hostile argument with her husband (a real jerk), a wife slams and kicks the door as she exits the room.

Displacement

After betting heavily on his favorite football team and losing badly, Rupert minimized the loss of his whole week's salary by extolling the value of recreation. "It's not the winning that is important, but the relaxation gained by the excitement." Everyone but Rupert knew he was full of hot air.

Rationalization

After receiving a speeding ticket from a policeman, the driver turns around and begins yelling at his children in the back seat of the car.

Displacement

After the IRS agent finished the audit, the business owner called in his cashier and began to threaten to fire him.

Displacement

After the loss of her prized dog, Mercy could not deal with the emotions involved in the loss of her special companion. She became obsessed with what the literature had to say about animals and the afterlife.

Intellectualization

After the wife had told the husband what a bad job he had done on the painting, the husband savagely stuck a pin in a cockroach crossing the floor.

Displacement

Alice's husband's business has gone bankrupt, and their available funds are extremely limited. Alice continues to buy new dresses and take her friends out to expensive lunches. She refuses to believe that they are not able to afford these luxuries.

Denial

An elderly widow has deep rooted feelings of hatred toward Mexicans which causes strong guilt feelings when she thinks about it. She does not hire Mexican workers for her yard work because she is sure her dog can single Mexicans out and will bite them.

Projection

Arthur was attacked by a knife-wielding mugger and seriously injured. It really bothered him that he was unable to defend himself and was so helpless. Consequently, he still avoids thinking about this incident years after it happened.

Suppression

As a child, Mandy's mother had always made popcorn when Mandy had a tough day or experience. Recently, Mandy's difficulties with her marriage had really been getting her down. She found herself making popcorn as often as three times a day. She hadn't made popcorn more than three times in the past ten years.

Regression

As a child, Mark chewed his fingernails to the point of extreme pain and infections. He quit doing this when he went off to college. As he approaches his thirtieth birthday, the behavior reappears. He is quite anxious about getting old and feels that he has not made a difference.

Regression

At a family reunion, Teresa discovers that she killed her beloved dog by backing over it with the family car. She is shocked to learn this. She had been vaguely aware of an uncomfortable feeling about the loss of her favorite pet, but has no memory of the incident.

Repression

Avoiding his extreme guilt feelings concerning his sexually perverted behavior, Otis concentrated on the history of man's sexuality and read everything he could find about it.

Intellectualization

Babs is troubled by recurring nightmares and seeks help from a therapist. In the course of therapy, it becomes apparent that she has lost a year of her life. She cannot remember anything that happened in her sophomore year in college.

Repression

Barbara describes her rape as a young woman as if she is telling someone else's story. There is an absolute absence of emotional content as she describes what was done to her.

Isolation of Affect

Barbara kicked the neighbor's garbage can over and threw all the trash over their lawn after they narrowly missed running over Barbara's dog.

Displacement

Barbara was known as a tomboy in her teen years. She played football with the boys growing up. When told that this was not acceptable behavior for a young lady, she managed to get a football scholarship at a college needing a place kicker. Although a bit unusual, it was very socially acceptable.

Sublimation

Beatrice lost her mother when she was three. For many years after that she showed no emotions. With long term therapy, she was able to overcome her lack of affect. Recently, her father died. She seems to be having the same problem again. She cannot cry and has flat affect.

Regression

Becky is married to a man who has been diagnosed as being bipolar. He is so severely impaired that he cannot hold a job. Becky continues to insist that he send out resumes in a search for a new job.

Denial

Bedellia thinks that she had something horrible happen to her in the ninth grade, but she cannot remember what it was. Her parents confirm that she witnessed the brutal murder of her next door neighbor when she stayed home from school because she was sick.

Repression

Believing or behaving as if one has special abilities or powers. Accompanying this is the belief that one is superior to others.

Omnipotence

Believing that fear was not a manly emotion, Francis could not admit his feelings about going into battle. Rather than talking about the upcoming fight, he talked about weather and how it could affect the ability of an enemy to fight.

Intellectualization

Belinda exhibits all the evidence of having been brutally raped the night before. She cannot remember who she was with, what she was doing or what happened to her.

Repression

Berinda hated her older brother. She learned early that expressing this feeling got her nothing but rebuke from her mother. She became the spy who helped Mom catch him at every misbehavior he committed and earned Mom's praise.

Sublimation

Betsy, a four-year old, puts her hands over her ears and loudly hums a song every time anyone tries to talk to her about the death of her mother. She just does not want to confront the death of her mother.

Suppression

Billie hates his big sister. He wishes she had never been born and that he could have Mom and Dad all to himself. His mother has made it very clear to him that he must love his sister. Billie has fantasized a monster that lives in his closet who wants to eat his sister.

Projection

Black Bart tells his gang that they failed in their attempted robbery of a train because of the slowness of their horses. The gang believes the truth to be that they just started chasing the train too late because Bart was busy telling them how great he was when he should have been watching for the train.

Rationalization

Bob, a policeman in a major city, was involved in a shoot out in which a stray bullet from his gun killed a young child. When reporting this to his therapist, he spoke in a flat, monotone voice which expressed no emotion whatsoever.

Isolation of Affect

Bob did not receive any significant encouragement from either of his parents. He is now very active in various charity organizations and fund raisers where he is constantly recognized as a very giving and caring person.

Altruism

Bob grew up in a home where his father was very abusive. He hated his father, but was not allowed to express this emotion. He became a prosecuting attorney and specialized in trying abuse cases.

Sublimation

Bob had a very painful childhood illness that almost killed him over a three-month period when he was six-years-old. As an adult, he is aware of this time only from anecdotes told to him by his parents. He has no memory of this time at all.

Repression

Bob has been raised in a family which emphasizes that all men are equal and worthy of one's love. He is afraid of Latin Americans and has become quite convinced they hate him and want to do him harm.

Projection

Bob has sexual fantasies that he believes are perverted and will bring him scorn from his friends. He tells one of his friends that their mutual friend has these very sexual fantasies.

Projection

Bob is afraid of falling in a hole when he goes cave exploring with his brother. His brother's advice is to try not to think about it.

Suppression

Bob killed a young boy on a bike while driving. He was not breaking any laws, but it deeply affected him. He does everything he can to forget this, and when asked about it, he makes it very clear that he doesn't want to talk about it.

Suppression

Bob made sure that every detail of his mother's funeral was just right. He poured every ounce of his energy into making the service flow smoothly.

Intellectualization - channeling his energy into the details allowed him to avoid dealing with the grief at his loss.

Bob's cholesterol measures over 300, but he does not believe that it is a problem even though the doctor has warned him of severe risks of stroke or heart problems.

Denial

Bob's older cousin, Jack, is an abusive bully whom Bob would like to hurt. Bob is too afraid to voice this, but he has become convinced that his other cousin feels the same way and will eventually beat the mean bully up.

Projection

Bob Smith is an aspiring actor who has been told that his teeth are so bad that he will never get work without getting a dentist to fix them. He rejects the advice and states that he knows that he can get plenty of work without fixing his teeth.

Denial

Bob was thoroughly chewed out by his mother for lying about his missing curfew. He turned on his computer, loaded a game, and began to shoot or destroy every creature that appeared on his screen.

Displacement

Bobbie's father was a monster. He was usually drunk and beat his wife and children frequently. When asked about her childhood, all she can tell her therapist about is what a wonderful guy her father was. She has no memories of his abuse or drunkenness.

Repression

Bobby grew up in an apartment in which his mother never let any of the siblings have any kind of pets. She said they were dirty and carried diseases. He went on to college and excelled in animal behavior. He sought jobs working in pet stores and eventually opened one of his own.

Reaction Formation

Bobby loved playing with dolls. When his adolescent playmates discovered his "sissy" behavior, they teased him incessantly. He abandoned his hobby, but soon discovered that puppetry was an acceptable alternative, and he could even get public adulation for his expertise.

Sublimation

Bonnie collected stuffed toys as a child and always slept with at least three or four of them. After surviving being raped and left for dead, she has been frequenting toy stores and buying stuffed toys. She is keeping many of these toys in her bed at night.

Regression

Brandon has permanently lost the use of his left foot due to a serious accident, but he continues to talk about how he will beat the socks off of his former racquetball opponent as soon as he gets the cast off.

Denial

Camile's new born died of SID. She has decided to never get pregnant again because she is such a bad mother.

Devaluation

Carla was madly in love with her married boss. She knew that she could never have a marital relationship with him so she set out to become the best secretary he had ever had. For many years, she worked for him, and he often told others that he had the best secretary in the world.

Sublimation

Carla was told of the death of her husband due to the car accident which had put her in a coma for a week. Days after being told, she continued to ask to see her husband.

Denial

Carmine was distressed to discover that the food coloring in hot dogs is made from crushed cochineal beetles. Within a day of this discovery, she was obsessed with buying only hot dogs which had this dye in it. She began to shop for any other food that had cochineal dye in it.

Reaction Formation

Charlie barely escaped from a massive apartment fire with his life. He was burned over 50% of his body and almost died. To this day, he remembers nothing about this day or the months of recovery that followed.

Repression

Charlie was out in the woods on the first day of hunting season. Not five minutes in the woods and he was stopped by an officer. Charlie kicked his dog soundly after being cited by the ranger for hunting without a license.

Displacement

Charlie was walking down the street when a dog approached him. Getting quite a scare from the growling dog, the child grabbed a lizard and pulled off its tail.

Displacement

Chavez is on probation for dealing drugs. He is engaged in a number of behaviors that are not allowed and will result in going back to prison if he gets caught. His probation officer visits him and asks questions. Chavez is sure that the probation officer is out to sabotage his freedom.

Projection - while sabotaging his chances for remaining free, Chavez projects this behavior upon his probation officer.

Cindy has a crush on the high school quarterback. He shows no interest in her, but rather than deal with her feelings toward him, she becomes convinced that he is madly in love with her.

Projection

Cindy is very unhappy with her professor. He insults her intelligence in class and makes her feel stupid. When asked for her opinion of him, she states that he is a very fair teacher.

Reaction Formation

Clarisse was very impressed with her new boss and his professional handling of the office. However, when she joined her fellow employees for lunch, and it became abundantly clear that they hated him, she talked about how incompetent he was.

Reaction Formation

Consciously attempting to remove an anxiety producing memory or thought

Suppression

Consciously attempting to remove an anxiety producing memory or thought

Suppression

Craig accidentally killed his brother while playing with a hand gun. He knows this to be true because his parents have told him it is so, but he has no memory of it at all.

Repression

Dave, a very obese young man, was always being teased by his coworkers. He suffered their teasing magnanimously because he knew that he had the power to beat up any one of them if he so desired.

Omnipotence

Dietrich was kept in a small, dark closet for three years as a young child (ages two to five). He was discovered by HRS, removed to a foster care facility and is now grown up. He cannot remember anything connected with those three years.

Repression

Donna has been arrested for DUI twice, lost her job because she was drinking on the job, and has serious problems remembering what she did the night before. Her children have begged her to get professional help. She insists that she does not have a drinking problem.

Denial

Due to a computer hard drive crash, Melinda has lost all of her family digital photos. A computer expert has tried with no success to save the contents. Two more computer repair stores have confirmed the hopelessness of the situation. She is still confident she can recover the data.

Denial

Education is extremely important to the Povich family. Emily, the oldest child, has developed an aversion to nonfiction books and good literature. Her idea of a good book to read is a trashy, romance novel.

Reaction Formation

Even with a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Max was unable to get a good job in his field. His resume was awful, his interview skills were terrible and he didn't bother to dress appropriately for the interviews, but he blamed his inability to get hired on the economy.

Rationalization

Every time his mother takes Dondi to the doctors office, he reverts to baby talk and wants to stay close to his mother. His normal five-year-old behavior is to run off by himself and freely explore whatever environment he is in.

Regression

Every time the client gets close to recognizing her feelings about her rape, she starts talking about the man who did it and fantasizing about his life. What does he do? Does he have a family? Is he regretting what he did? Is he in jail for another crime that he got caught for doing?

Intellectualization

Experiencing sexual fantasies that are not acceptable, Mark states that all men are perverts.

Projection

Finding a way to act out an unacceptable impulse in a socially acceptable manner

Sublimation

Finding a way to act out an unacceptable impulse in a socially acceptable manner

Sublimation

Focusing upon meeting the needs of others to deal with emotional conflict or stressors. The individual feels good about his/her service to others and is reinforced by the response of others.

Altruism

Frank had a very serious childhood disease that lasted for years and put him in contact with many doctors. He viewed most of his experiences with doctors and nurses as horribly negative. He later became a writer. All of the medical characters in his books were kind and benevolent to the point of being unbelievable.

Reaction Formation

Fred bragged to his friends that his therapist was so competent that he couldn't help but be cured of his problem. His anxiety about his problem went away, but the problem was still there.

Idealization

Fred kept missing his target at the gun range by a wide margin. Rather than admit that he needed new glasses, he blamed it on bad gun sights. Anything to avoid going to the optometrist.

Rationalization

Fred returned from Iraq wounded from the shrapnel of a bomb. He saved two of his companions and has been recommended for a Medal of Honor. He remembers the patrol and being in the hospital afterwards, but he cannot remember what he did or what happened to injure him.

Repression

Fred was severely hurt by his previous relationship. His girlfriend had used him to get things she wanted, and when she had drained his bank account she told him that she never cared for him. Instead of dealing with his feelings, Fred began to study Internet dating.

Intellectualization

Freddie grew up in a family that was very involved in nudist activities. All of their family outings and vacations were to nudist resorts and beaches. When he grew up, he became obsessive about covering up and not being seen without his clothes. He only would have sex with the lights out.

Reaction Formation

Frieda is quite the tomboy. She is not interested in getting married or having children. She is very afraid that there might be something wrong with her and that people will think her strange. She has developed a hatred of lesbians.

Projection - rather than hate herself for her perceived wrong thinking, she has projected her hate toward others.

Fundy loved wearing girl's clothing, but knew that if he got caught, he would be in big trouble. When he grew up, he became a women's clothing designer and made a very good living.

Sublimation

Gayla's friends have decided to all go try parachuting. Gayla is scared to death of flying in small planes, but instead of admitting this, she states that statistically parachuting is a dangerous sport and not a good idea.

Rationalization

George grew up on military bases as the son of an officer. Blind obedience, organization and order were the norm in his family. When he went off to college, he became an antiwar protester, defied authority and had the messiest room in the dorm.

Reaction Formation

George was a bully who loved to tell others what to do. He had almost no friends. In college, he realized that he could control people and earn their respect by running for class president. He went on to be a very successful politician who passed legislation affecting the lives of millions of people.

Sublimation

Georgette is having serious problems with her marriage. Rather than deal with this emotional conflict, she has taken to volunteering at her church. She is seen by her fellow church members as a warm and thoughtful person.

Altruism

Going back to an earlier stage of development to avoid unacceptable anxieties or emotions

Regression

Going back to an earlier stage of development to avoid unacceptable anxieties or emotions

Regression

Grady, five-years-old, recently lost his only child status. A sister was born. He has suddenly taken to baby talk and keeps asking his mother if he can breast feed like his sister.

Regression

Grandpa tells great stories and is never serious about anything. His grandchildren love him. Underneath his happy demeanor, he is a very sad person, but he doesn't want to think about it.

Humor

Greatly fearing the upcoming appointment with his dentist, Robert reviewed the billing problems he would have with the receptionist. He rehearsed what he would say to her and avoided thinking about the pain he was about to experience in the chair.

Intellectualization

Handling emotional conflict or stressors by assigning exaggerated positive attributes to others.

Idealization

Handling emotional conflict or stressors by assigning exaggerated negative attributes to others or to self.

Devaluation

Having lost both of his parents to car accidents, Carson becomes obsessed with driving fast and recklessly.

Reaction Formation

"How could you say such a thing? I am going to do everything I can think of to forget you ever said that."

Suppression

Hubert hated his job at a fast food restaurant. He knew he was smarter than anyone he worked with. He dealt with his emotional conflicts by believing that he was only there temporarily until some software guru discovered his massive talents and recognized him for his true value.

Omnipotence

"I do not see any reason to talk about this. I am going to do everything I can to forget this horrible incident. I am going to erase it from my memory."

Suppression

"I used to dwell on how mean Dad was to me. I could not get the details out of my mind. Recently, I have taught myself to not think about it by thinking of something else that is nice."

Suppression

Ilya had always been an animal lover as a child. He loved visiting pet stores and zoos. When he was laid off from his job and could not find another one, he bought a dog, set up an aquarium and began to visit the local zoo on a daily basis avoiding all stressful situations.

Regression

Imogene grew up in the shadow of her much smarter sister. Her sister excelled in school and always did better at every subject than Imogene did. Imogene's grade began to plummet from above average to failing in the fifth grade. The anxiety of competing with her older sister was just too much to handle.

Reaction Formation

In his work evaluation, Tom has been told by his supervisor that he needs to work on his people skills. Furthermore, he will not advance if he does not do anything about his problems with his fellow workers. He is sure that there is no real problem, and that another few months will prove that he is right.

Denial

In marital counseling sessions with his wife, John would talk about the mechanics of their marriage, the origins of their problems, and what they ought to do to fix their problems. Anytime the counselor would bring up feelings or emotions, John would return to his analysis of the problems.

Intellectualization

In spite of her absolutely beautiful looks, the Southern Bell despaired of ever getting married. Unable to deal with her spoiled-rotten personality, she reasoned that she could not develop a good relationship with a man because she was ugly.

Rationalization

Instead of dealing with her terminal cancer, the patient began reading everything she could find by Kublar-Ross. She became an expert on the details of death and dying.

Intellectualization

Ivan, a very responsible husband; father; and administrator, began to exhibit strange behavior. He came home with a motorcycle, began to frequent bars and neglected his family and work. This was very similar behavior to when he had flunked out of college on his first try.

Regression

Jewel is not handling motherhood well. Her four-year-old daughter and her five-year-old son are causing her great distress. She is starting to wish she were not a mother. She begins to have convictions that they hate her and would rather see her dead.

Projection

Jimmy recounts how he accidentally shot and killed his best friend while playing with a firearm. He exhibits no remorse or emotion at all as he tells of the loss of his friend of 15 years.

Isolation of Affect

Joan lost her husband when a drug-crazed addict killed him for the $23 in his wallet. She began to study the psychology of drug addiction and became a lay expert on the subject. No time was left for grieving.

Intellectualization

John does not want to marry Teresa because he doesn't feel like he loves her. He tells his friend that he must break up with Teresa because marrying her would get in the way of finishing college.

Rationalization

Jorge had a terrible fear of monsters in the dark and slept with his back to the wall as a child. He recently was mugged while walking home from work. Since then he has pushed his bed against the wall and can only sleep with his back to the wall.

Regression

Jose ate a taco which had very hot sauce in it. It gave him a severe stomach upset. He reacted to this set back by becoming obsessed with finding hotter and hotter sauces.

Reaction Formation

Karl had been a very dependent child who could never make decisions on his own. He grew up to be a very independent, aggressive salesman who was successful at everything he did. When his sales numbers plummeted, he became very tentative in his decisions and wanted other people to tell him what to do.

Regression

Karl loved to push people around. He didn't care if it resulted in someone getting hurt. He didn't even care if he got hurt. He was a very unpopular person until he discovered that he had a talent for football and became the high school star tackler.

Sublimation

Kathy had a very unpleasant childhood. When asked about what she remembers from her childhood, she works very hard at only remembering the few good things that happened and concentrates on these to the exclusion of the bad.

Suppression

Katrina was fired from her job for stealing money from the cash register. She is so embarrassed by this lapse in her normally very moral character that she cannot confront it. She will not talk about it and does everything she can to forget it ever happened.

Suppression

Linda's family moved from one side of town to the other and she is now going to attend a new school. Linda refuses to believe that her friends will no longer be going to school with her and makes plans for what they will do when school starts again.

Denial

Linton was surprised to discover that the company rep who had flown in for a meeting was there to fire everyone. He was not there to give the expected bonuses. Although Linton's initial reaction was one of anger, he ended up consoling the rep and attempted to make him feel better about what he had done.

Reaction Formation

Little Billy was experiencing a terrible year in the fifth grade. He was the target of several of the playground bullies, and he didn't like his teacher. His mother noticed that he no longer was reading grade level books but had returned to his old books from the second grade, and he was playing with his old toys.

Regression

Little Tommie's very macho Dad has a big dog which Tommie is very afraid of. Rather than admit to his Dad his unacceptable fear, Tommie tries to convince his father that the dog really does not like Tommie and will try to bite him.

Projection

Macy, a very solid, hardworking, upper-level executive, suddenly quit her position and moved back to the small town she grew up in. Although she had not been back since her parents moved away, she managed to buy her old family home and spent all of her time roaming the familiar woods of her childhood.

Regression

Maggie hit and killed a pedestrian while driving under the influence of alcohol. Rather than admit her guilt, she fixated on how dark it had been and that the victim had been wearing dark clothes.

Rationalization

Maggie was very fond of eating and very overweight. When her parents sent her to an exclusive school, and the other girls made fun of her for being fat, she suddenly developed a hatred of all foods, and stopped eating. Her weight plummeted.

Reaction Formation

Many of Jennifer's family are Ku Klux Klan members and are extreme racists. When Jennifer goes off to college, she seeks out and falls in love with an African-American.

Reaction Formation

Marcus reacts to traumatic events by losing his memory of people's names. When it is severe enough, he can't even remember his wife's name.

Dissociation

Margaret loved to cut things up. She was always in trouble for cutting up magazines or clothes which were still being used. She grew up to be a very competent surgeon.

Sublimation

Maria grew up poor and hates people who are rich and "lord it over others." She works for the IRS and asked for assignment in the office which specializes in auditing high income citizens.

Sublimation

Marie hates her husband and would like to see him dead. This is an unacceptable desire in her family. Rather than deal with this, she begins to believe that her husband is trying to kill her.

Projection

Mark has found a way to avoid thinking about the traumatic beating he suffered during a robbery. He forces his injured finger to move to a very painful position, and it distracts him.

Suppression

Mark lived in a ghetto where gun fights and deaths were common. He was so afraid of his neighborhood that he could not sleep or eat until he began to believe that he was special to God and could not be harmed by mere guns and the thugs who carried them.

Omnipotence

Mark loves the rush he gets when he engages in risky behavior. His parents were always getting on his case for doing "stupid" things. He became a police officer, joined the SWAT team, and is always the first to enter the room when on assignment.

Sublimation

Marko had a strong fear of heights. Just living near the mountains caused him extreme anxiety. As the years went by, he became an expert on mountain climbing and wrote best selling novels about adventures in climbing.

Reaction Formation

Marriet cannot remember what she was doing the previous Friday. The police show up at her door to ask her if she is ok, and if she can describe the man who threatened to kill her at knife point during an aborted bank robbery. She has no memory of this event.

Repression

Marrisa witnessed the brutal murder of her mother by her father at the age of 9. Now an adult, she reacts to questions about how she is feeling about her trauma with musings on the chemical nature of emotions and what survival function they exhibit.

Intellectualization

Marsha is not doing well in her high school math class. She is very angry about this and despises her teacher, but imagines that her teacher is giving her bad grades because he hates her.

Projection

Martha is very unhappy in her relationship to her husband. She would like to get a divorce, but her religion is against divorce. She is unable to deal with these unacceptable feelings. She tells her pastor that her husband is not happy with the marriage and wants a divorce, and she believes this to be true.

Projection

Martha's husband walked out on her and the children without any warning. This is so painful that she refuses to talk about it. In fact, she gets so angry and yells so loudly when the children make any reference to Daddy that they are afraid to say anything that might make Mom think about Daddy.

Suppression

Mary Anne was so mad at her father that she told her best friend that she wished he was dead. When confronted by her friend the next day, she had no memory of ever saying this.

Repression

Mary has a crush on her married boss. She knows that this is wrong, and she struggles against fantasizing about having an affair with him. She begins to interpret his kind gestures as flirting and becomes convinced that he wants her.

Projection

Mary's mother was exhibiting strange behavior that was so severe that the psychiatrist suggested getting her committed. Mary made it very clear to the doctor that her mother was much too smart and in control to have mental problems. She insisted that her mother was the healthiest woman in the country.

Idealization

Mary was fascinated by dead things. She was considered to be weird by her schoolmates. She went to medical school, became an MD, and went to work for the medical examiner.

Sublimation

Mary was so afraid of the dark, that she had to sleep with a night light. She became absolutely paralyzed when a power failure knocked out the lights. She grew up to write stories about monsters who lurked in the night and did awful things. She created heroes and heroines who lived mostly in the dark.

Reaction Formation

Maryam is an outstanding gymnast. She recently injured herself on the parallel bars. As a result, she has developed a fear of this exercise. Rather than deal with her fear, she has decided that she is just no good on the parallel bars.

Devaluation

Maryland has been through three divorces and has very few friends. She spends much of her time in the part of Los Angeles where many of the homeless hang out. She is an advocate for the homeless and finds them food and shelter.

Altruism

Maurine was sexually abused by her uncle when she was four-years-old. She has no memory of this event, but remembers other details of the day this happened.

Repression

Mavis recently has been under tremendous stress at work. When the stress became overwhelming, she suddenly was unable to make decisions and began to beg her friends to tell her what to do. Her friends are beginning to tell her that they will not "mother" her anymore.

Regression

Max is considered a very entertaining clown who handles setbacks with hilarious comments or jokes. Everyone thinks he must really be a well-balanced person because nothing seems to get him down. Unbeknownst to his friends, he is emotionally bleeding to death.

Humor

Max was raised in a home where hatred of outsiders and strangers was the norm. He redirected his hatred into a patriotic fervor about protecting his country from terrorists. He joined the marines and earned numerous medals in battles overseas.

Sublimation

Maximillian was born into a very rich family. He grew up at the country club playing hours and hours of golf and tennis. Lately, he has been avoiding going into the office and has rejoined the country club. He hangs out at the tennis courts or plays golf most of the day.

Regression

Michael loved torturing insects. He would pull the legs off of grasshoppers and put them in the middle of an ant bed. As he became aware of the disapproval of his peers, he changed his actions and became a collector of insects. He still had to kill them to collect specimens, but it was acceptable behavior.

Sublimation

Mikail, a very independent young man, recently slipped and broke his arm. He is amazed to find that he suddenly feels the need to call his mother and talk to her every day. It reminds him of the sixth grade when he broke the same arm. His mother helped him by writing all of his homework and taking care of him.

Regression

Mike lost his wife and three children in a car accident. He seemed to be holding up ok for a day or so after the accident. He failed to show up for work on the day he had said he would return. He was found in his bedroom curled up in a fetal position apparently unable to understand normal speech.

Regression

Mimi spent most of her childhood in foster care. She was removed from one family because the foster parents were abusive and another home because one of the other foster children sexually abused her. As an adult, she has read about these incidents in her case files, but has no memory of these things happening.

Repression

Miranda is in debt far beyond her ability to pay. Her brother has been trying to help her find a solution, but every time he brings the subject up, she consciously changes the subject and tries not to think about her situation.

Suppression

Murray felt strangely attracted to his sixth grade fellow student, but ended up taunting her and making fun of her when his playmates made it very clear that girls were yucky and had cooties.

Reaction Formation

Not feeling confident with his ability to properly research the paper for his psychology class, Conrad concentrated on making sure that the paper was the right kind and that the supplies for the paper were just right.

Intellectualization

Not wanting to think about the surgery, Mary focused on the educational levels of the surgeons and the anesthesiologist.

Intellectualization

Officer Stuart became so enraged at the antics of the drunken driver that he berated him mercilessly when the policeman finally caught up with the reckless driver. The driver charged him with unbecoming conduct. When interviewed by Internal Affairs, he honestly could not remember ever screaming at the citizen.

Repression

Pablo did whatever his brother wanted him to do even when it seemed to be wrong or contrary to what their parents had taught them as children. No matter how much emotional conflict it caused him, Pablo ignored his feelings because he saw his brother as being the smartest, most honest man in the world.

Idealization

Pam's mother was the perfect mother. She took excellent care of her children, was very involved in their schools, cooked outstanding meals and volunteered for several charitable organizations. Pam knew she could never live up to her mother's reputation. Pam became a prostitute and drug addict.

Reaction Formation

Pamela had such a problem with twirling her hair with her fingers that her parents got her professional help. For many years, she has not done this. Recently, the pressures of being a mother have been getting to her. She is again having problems with this behavior.

Regression

Pamela, when confronted with extreme stress at work, becomes disoriented and unsure of where she is. Her husband must be called to come and get her.

Dissociation

Pat's wife was killed by a stray bullet fired during a bank robbery. He attended every minute of the trial, read every newspaper account of the incident, wrote letters to the editor, and became an expert on victimology. He never talked about his feelings about his wife's death and refused to go to a grief counselor.

Intellectualization

Patrice grew up in a large family with 9 siblings. She only seemed to come the attention of her parents when she did something naughty or wrong. She now works as a volunteer in an orphanage where she is admired for her caring attitude toward the children.

Altruism

Patrice has been told that she must take antidepressant medicine to avoid getting very depressed. She refuses to take it because she doesn't think she has a problem with depression.

Denial

Patricia liked to hurt animals. She joined the rifle team at school and became one of the best hunters in her county.

Sublimation

Patrick loved to take chances and was constantly being stopped by his parents from doing dangerous things. He joined the army and volunteered to go to a combat zone overseas.

Sublimation

Patti, a freshman at a very large state university, misses her family very much. She is having trouble adjusting to dorm life. She notices that she is waking up in the morning with her thumb in her mouth. She has not sucked her thumb since she was a little girl.

Regression

Paul does not want to remember the accident which killed his wife. He has developed elaborate strategies for redirecting his thoughts when memories of the accident are triggered.

Suppression

Paul grew up on a farm and had a history of extreme cruelty to animals. When he grew up, he went to work for the Humane Society. He now has no sympathy for animal abusers and refers to them as evil subhumans.

Projection

Paul is scared to death of tigers since he saw one maul a performer in a circus. He develops a deep fascination and love for the one at his local zoo.

Reaction Formation

Paul left the dining room and went to the kitchen. Then he threw his phone through the window after his father-in-law had accused him of being a bad husband.

Displacement

Paul's relatives remember his childhood as having been very unhappy. His father was an alcoholic and physically abused him and his siblings. He has no memory of his childhood whatsoever.

Repression

Paul took the sergeant's exam as a police officer and failed the first time. More than 85% of the policemen taking the exam for the first time fail. Paul was so traumatized by his failure that he could not accept this fact and refused to retake the exam. He told everyone he was too stupid to ever pass.

Devaluation

Paul was addicted to pornography, but told no one. When he joined the police force, he volunteered for the vice squad and became an expert on pornography carefully viewing seized materials for clues needed to capture the perpetrators.

Sublimation

Paula absolutely despised her brother's best friend. This caused her much anxiety as she loved her brother and wanted to please him. After putting up with this jerk for months, she suddenly began to pursue him, and let everyone know that she thought he was fabulous.

Reaction Formation

Paula hates her parents and holds them responsible for her miserable childhood. She became a social worker and took a job with Children and Family Services specializing in removing children from risky homes. She never verbalizes her hatred of her parents, but she loves taking children away from their parents.

Sublimation

Paula is a member of a group of about eight high school girls who are the "in crowd." She loathes the leader of this group, but cannot admit this if she is to stay in the group. She tells another member that the leader hates her and wants to get rid of her.

Projection

Pavel could not understand what was happening. He told his therapist that since losing his mother to cancer, he could no longer sleep without a night light. It was like he was at home again and afraid of the dark all over again.

Regression

Persephone loved touching her girl friends, but knew that they would think she was a lesbian if she let them know. Every time she had these thoughts, she would think of a cute boy she knew and fantasize having sex with him to block out the unacceptable thoughts.

Suppression

Peter, a strong proponent of waiting until marriage to have sex, meets a girl, has sex with her, and gets her pregnant. Rather than dealing with his feelings of being an immoral scum bag, he begins seeing her as a whore who has brought him down.

Projection

Peter is seriously in debt and has trouble holding down a job. Rather than get help, he spends much of his time working with troubled youth as a volunteer.

Altruism

Peter's son has been convicted of a felony and will start serving his ten year sentence the following day. Hours after hearing the sentence, Peter is planning on surprising his son with a birthday party at a local restaurant the following month.

Denial

Peter talks his girlfriend into getting an abortion, but convinces himself that he has no responsibility in this decision because it was her body and ultimately her decision.

Rationalization

Peter was an average student in college, but he believed he was much smarter than the other students in his classes. In fact, he believed himself to be a genius who was just hiding his talents to blend in.

Omnipotence

Peter was molested by his high school math teacher. As an adult, he avoids anything to do with math and does everything he can to avoid thinking about this traumatic event.

Suppression

Petunia was devoted to her "kitty cat." When he finally died of very old age, she felt abandoned. From that day on, she became a rabid cat hater and even went so far as to hurt other cats.

Reaction Formation

Phil has trained himself not to think about his time in Vietnam. It is just something he does not want to remember. Any time memories of Vietnam start to surface, he gets very busy or goes partying with his friends.

Suppression

Phil resented his younger sister for having taken away his favored status as an only child. In fact, he hated her for it. In therapy he would not admit to this feeling. Instead, he would wax eloquently about normal sibling rivalries and the nature of family dynamics concerning brothers and sisters.

Intellectualization

Philip has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and his doctors have given him less than six months to live. He is sure they are wrong, and he is making plans to go scuba diving on his next vacation which cannot happen for about a year.

Denial

Phyllis raised caterpillars as a child and has wonderful memories of this time in her life. She recently experienced a traumatic event at work. Suddenly, she has found herself intensely interested in butterflies again. She has purchased some caterpillars and is delighting in watching them grow.

Regression

Pierre has gained weight and his waist size has increased to a 38 inch girth. He continues to buy pants in the 34 inch size even though they will not fit him.

Denial

Pops is a father of three teenagers who never seems to be serious about anything. No matter how bad or tragic something is, he finds something to laugh about. He never seems to deal with any of the family problems.

Humor

Porter absolutely hated spiders. He could not stand to be in the same room with one. When he got to college, he majored in biology and eventually became an expert on spiders.

Reaction Formation

Porter loses his ability to concentrate and even seems to be in a trance when he is confronted with stressors that are more than he can handle.

Dissociation

Porter loves to hurt others, but hides his feelings because he is soundly criticized every time he admits to this. He grows up to be a successful dentist.

Sublimation

Quinn's twin brother and his parents were killed in a car accident which Quinn survived with hardly a scratch. Ten years later, he still cannot remember anything about this horrible tragedy.

Repression

Raised in a devoutly Christian home, the oldest son goes off to college and immediately becomes a flaming atheist.

Reaction Formation

Rather than admit that he has failed to do what his boss requested due to his own negligence, Phil offers reason after reason for not accomplishing his task.

Rationalization

Rather than deal with the emotions of losing his wife, William began planning a huge memorial statue and a scholarship fund to honor his wife.

Intellectualization

Rather than deal with the loss of her husband, Sandra spent all of her waking hours organizing his photographs.

Intellectualization

Rather than deal with the painful experience that he suffered a week before, Roger consciously thinks of what he wants to eat to block out the pain of remembering.

Suppression

Recently, Letisha has been having very detailed dreams of being born. "It's like I'm there and I am going through the birth process. Mother says my description sounds like what she remembers at my birth. I really have a good feeling when I am having this dream."

Regression

Robert has made a career of making fun of his problems. He is a well-known comedian who seems to have everything. His fans have no idea how unhappy he is.

Humor

Robert has noticed a very disconcerting behavior in his roommate. The roommate develops a lisp and talks in a high pitched voice anytime he is under stress. His normal voice is lisp free and very deep.

Regression

Robert's father is in jail for periodically sexually abusing Robert from the time he was two-years-old until he was removed from the home at the age of ten. Now an adult, Robert remembers much of his life with his father, but he has no memory of abuse.

Repression

Rocko loved hanging out with the most unsavory of characters. His parents were appalled and did all they could to stop this. When Rocko grew up, he became a prison guard and was very popular among the inmates.

Sublimation

Ron was wounded in the knee in Vietnam and has serious impairment from arthritis. He hasn't been able to deal with his physical disability as he sees it as a lessening of his manhood. Instead, he blames his failure to get a job with the sheriff on his poor education in spite of his having a B.A. in Criminology.

Devaluation

Roy has developed a heart condition which has disqualified him as a private pilot. Rather than talk about this and look for ways to continue flying legally, he refuses to even think about it. He changes the subject when his problem is brought up and becomes angry if it is pursued.

Suppression - Although this might look like denial, it involves avoiding the truth by forcing it out of consciousness rather than denying that it is true.

Sandra was raised in a strict, moral family. She has been experiencing very sexual dreams. She tells her friend that all men are beasts and think of nothing but sex.

Projection

Sanjay partied all weekend and did not study for his exam. On Monday, he did miserably on the exam. Rather than deal with his guilt feelings, he explained his failure by stating that he was just plain stupid and incapable of understanding the subject.

Devaluation

Shasta's parents know that she was molested by her uncle when she was fourteen because he has confessed to this crime, but she cannot remember him ever touching her or being alone with her. Additionally, her brother has confirmed this crime by reporting what he saw the uncle do to Shasta.

Repression

She had planned this party for months. The most important people in Winter Park were there. In the end the socialite threw her wine glass across the room after her special guests made fun of the party.

Displacement

Showing no emotions after the loss of her only child, Martha became obsessed with the effects of the loss of a child on a marriage. She talked incessantly about the destructive effect of losing children on hypothetical marriages.

Intellectualization

Stan becomes functionally illiterate when he is put under great stress. It is like he has never learned to read. This is so disconcerting to him that he is unable to function in every day situations.

Dissociation

Substituting a seemingly logical or rational reason for the real reason

Rationalization

Substituting a seemingly logical or rational reason for the real reason

Rationalization

Sue Ellen, a very successful beauty pageant contestant for many years, has gained a significant amount of weight since her last pageant. She is confident that she will win the next contest with no weight loss even though a main event involves wearing a bathing suit.

Denial

"Surely you don't have to think about that mistake. You couldn't help it, and you are sorry. Stop thinking about it and move on."

Suppression

Susan refused to listen to her friends or her heart when confronted with her boyfriend's infidelity. She believed him to be madly in love with her and completely faithful in spite of strong evidence to the contrary.

Idealization

Tamara has fantasies of killing her husband. She is horrified by this. When these impulses are noticed, she goes to the gym and works out until she is so exhausted she cannot think and the unacceptable thoughts are gone.

Suppression

Terry lost her mother and brother in a car accident in which she was also involved. When she talks about it, she speaks in a monotone voice and seems to have no connection to her feelings concerning this traumatic event.

Isolation of Affect

Terry loved making explosives. He even got himself arrested for building a pipe bomb as a teenager. He went to college and earned a degree in Chemistry. He now works for a major military contractor and works in the explosives department.

Sublimation

Terry's favorite TV show has been taken off of the air, but she keeps checking the TV guide to find out when it will return. The entertainment section of the newspaper has made it very clear that there will be no resurrection of this series.

Denial

The bank teller, feeling guilty about stealing some money, tells his fellow teller that he knows for a fact that the bank president takes money from the till when no one is looking.

Projection

The child smashed his play hammer on the peg after his larger playmate hit him.

Displacement

The coach cut the star player from the basketball team when he learned that the boy was sneaking out with the coach's daughter. The coach told himself that the kid was not really trying hard enough to make the team and deserved what happened to him.

Rationalization

The college student blames his bad grade in math on the poor teaching of the professor in spite of his own lack of studying for a very difficult subject.

Rationalization

The college student knew he had inappropriate fantasies toward little boys. Rather than deal with them, he joined Big Brothers and became an exemplary big brother to a young man. He loudly denounced pedophiles wherever he went.

Reaction Formation

The crew chief turned and screamed at one of his helpers right after his boss cussed him out for being so slow in fixing a problem.

Displacement

The defense mechanism by which one redirects one's emotions or impulses on a less threatening target than the one eliciting the response.

Displacement

The defense mechanism by which one redirects one's emotions or impulses on a less threatening target than the one eliciting the response.

Displacement

The father becomes incensed at the behavior of his teenage son and shouts foul obscenities at him. This is not the normal response expected from him. The next day when confronted by his wife at his strange behavior, he denies doing it and honestly has no memory of having done it.

Repression

The father whose child drowned while fishing with him cannot face his own negligence in the accident. He blames the manufacturers of the bass boat and hires a lawyer to sue them in spite of his having been inebriated and piling into another boat on the water.

Rationalization

The gambler began to beat up his girlfriend after being threatened by his bookie for not paying past debts.

Displacement

The hunter accidentally killed the cow while stalking deer next to a cow pasture. He blamed his carelessness on the stupidity of the rancher. If the rancher had had any sense, he would have kept the cows in the barn during hunting season.

Rationalization

The mechanism by which one places unacceptable impulses, thoughts or characteristics that are being experienced onto someone else.

Projection

The mechanism by which one places unacceptable impulses, thoughts or characteristics that are being experienced onto someone else.

Projection

The mechanism by which one refuses to admit that an anxiety provoking event or object exists.

Denial

The mechanism by which one refuses to admit that an anxiety provoking event or object exists.

Denial

The movie star was refused seating in the fancy restaurant because he had no reservation. He turned to his date and began to tell her what a loser she was.

Displacement

The owner of a small pizza delivery restaurant shoots and kills an armed robber. He is told of this bravery the next day by one of his employees. He has no memory of this event.

Repression

The policeman chased the speeder who failed to stop for almost a mile. When the speeder finally pulled over, the policeman yanked the individual out of the car and proceeded to beat him soundly. At his hearing the officer explained that the idiot needed to be punished since the courts wouldn't do anything to him.

Rationalization

The politician actually meant it when he said, "I did not have sex with that woman." He could not remember any encounter with her in spite of evidence to the contrary.

Repression

The politician can talk for hours about his unexpected loss in the elections, but when asked for his feelings about the event, he returns to the analysis and doesn't deal with the emotions.

Intellectualization

The process of separating a traumatic event or emotional conflict from the attendant emotions. The memory of the event remains without the affect associated with it.

Isolation of Affect

The real reason Barbara left her husband was that she had found a man who treated her like a lady and cared about her. Barbara told everyone, and believed it herself, that she had left because her husband was involved in the occult and had broken a promise to not do this.

Rationalization

The sales manager made his most successful salesman redo his weekly report for no reason other than meanness after the owner told the sales manager he was a doofus.

Displacement

The sergeant chewed out the recruits with extra enthusiasm after being told by the general that he was a screw-up.

Displacement

The teacher called the student a cheater and gave him a zero on his exam. He walked out into the corridor and punched the teacher's pet while she wasn't looking.

Displacement

The tennis player cannot stand his opponent who is one of the most popular players on the circuit. After getting thoroughly beaten by this player, he stated to another player that he just knew that this player hated him.

Projection

The therapist is getting too close to Cindy's reason for wanting a divorce from her husband. She tells him that he is on the wrong track. She insists that the real reason is that her husband doesn't love her anymore. Based on the therapist's observations, this is just not the case.

Rationalization

The therapist spouts some harsh words at one of her clients during a difficult therapy session. When reminded by her client of this event in the next session, she thinks he is making it up. When she listens to tapes of the session, she is shocked to hear that she actually had behaved as described.

Repression

The toll booth collector ripped the ticket to pieces after being insulted by the driver.

Displacement

The truck driver who shot the man who cut him off explained that he was not angry. He just was stopping a dangerous driver who would have probably killed someone if he had not been stopped.

Rationalization

The woman carelessly spilled coffee between her legs while driving her car and was seriously burned. She reasoned that this would not have happened if the fast food restaurant had not made the coffee so hot.

Rationalization

Todd kept insisting that he did not have marital problems in spite of strong evidence to the contrary. He talked about how wonderful his wife was and how impossible it was for such a fantastic wife to allow any problems in their marriage.

Idealization

Todd was severely mauled by a Doberman Pinscher as a child. He is studying to become a veterinarian so that he can treat animals. He is especially anxious to work with big dogs.

Reaction Formation

Tom grew up with a fascination with knives. His parents were so concerned with his obsession that they did not allow him to collect knives. He grew up to be a sales rep for a major pocket knife manufacturer.

Sublimation

Tom suspects that his wife, Melissa, missing for three days, has left him. Rather than admit this possibility, he invents one reason after another that might explain her absence.

Rationalization

Tommy was extremely aggressive and was constantly getting into trouble in school. A school resource officer talked him into learning boxing at the YMCA. He went on to be an Olympic contender and was very successful in his adult endeavors.

Sublimation

Tony was always telling lies to his friends. No matter what they accomplished or experienced, he always knew of someone, often himself, who had done better or seen more than they had. He had very few close friends. Now he is a writer of adventure novels, has many friends and is very rich.

Sublimation

Unconsciously removing an anxiety producing memory or thought from the conscious and burying it in the unconscious

Repression

Unconsciously removing an anxiety producing memory or thought from the conscious and burying it in the unconscious

Repression

Upon being asked a question by the reporter that he dare not answer, the senator refused to answer, and waited until the reporter left to scream at his aide for allowing that reporter in the room.

Displacement

Upon being fired from her job, Maria began to tell people that she knew more than her boss and that the company would fold now that she was gone. She further stated that if she wanted to she could hasten the demise of the company.

Omnipotence

Upon breaking his leg in football practice, the freshman was told that he would not be playing anymore football that year. His response was," Well, I probably would not have been able to make the team anyway. I'm not good enough."

Rationalization

Upon receiving an F in his college psychology class, Phil is heard to say, "That professor is a real jerk. The tests he gives are dirty tricks that are intended to make undergrads suffer."

Devaluation

Vicki, after being horribly mistreated by her ex-boyfriend, retreated to her preteen years. She bought a horse that looked just like the one she had when she was eleven-years old. She began to spend all of her spare time riding or caring for her horse.

Regression

Wanting to attend the big party, the college coed decided that she could pass the test without any further studying. She told herself that one hour of studying was enough even though her much smarter roommate was planning on studying for at least ten hours.

Rationalization

When asked how he feels about his Daddy abandoning the family, an eight-year-old boy wants to talk about his Daddy's neat car. He talks enthusiastically about how fast it will go and how Daddy let him turn the steering wheel. This allows the boy to avoid facing his emotions.

Intellectualization

When Bobby was told by his mother that he couldn't have any grapes. He stated that he really didn't want any because they were probably sour anyway.

Rationalization

When Buck recounts his adventures in Vietnam as a marine, he seems to be talking about another person's life. No emotion whatsoever is attached to his recollections.

Isolation of Affect

When confronted by his parents for poor grades and having been put on restriction, the high school student slapped his younger brother while his parents weren't looking.

Displacement

When Doris' teenage daughter broke the vase, a family heirloom, Doris avoided her own angry reaction by saying, "Oh, don't worry. It was just a dusty, old vase."

Rationalization

When Grandma is asked how it felt to be treated like a criminal when she was stopped for running a stop sign, she replies, "I'm not going to think about it. I am going to think of pleasant things instead."

Suppression

When informed that his appeal had been turned down, the inmate threw his dinner plate on the ground and proceeded to beat his roommate to a pulp.

Displacement

When interviewed about the car crash which killed her husband and seriously injured Susan, she will only discuss the damage to the car. She talks incessantly about the need to repair the car. Her feelings about losing her husband are not something she will talk about.

Intellectualization

When memories of her abusive father start to surface, Tina goes to her favorite bar and gets very drunk. This effectively blocks her having to deal with the painful memories.

Suppression

When Molly was five-years old, she hit her baby sister with a bat and killed her. A video monitor recorded this. She is now a college student. She has no memory of ever doing this vile deed.

Repression

When Rex is on the verge of becoming overwhelmed by his feelings, he begins to see people around him as "fading away" and he can not understand what they are saying.

Dissociation

When the basketball superstar was called for a foul he didn't feel he had committed, the player slammed the ball to the ground.

Displacement

When told that he must go to the dentist for a checkup, Foster curls up in a fetal position and sucks his thumb.

Regression

When under stress at work, Mack reverts to angry outbursts at inanimate objects such as his computer. This is a behavior that he exhibited in grammar school and had not been evident until recently.

Regression

"Whenever I start to remember that horrible night, I just think of happy things that are not related to that disaster. It helps me to not dwell on unpleasant thoughts."

Suppression

Whenever the traumatic memories of his time in jail start to surface, Kurt goes to see a funny movie. It helps him to forget the bad memories.

Suppression

"Why dwell on that awful night. Think of other things and get on with your life."

Suppression

Young Tom had a rich fantasy life full of secret agents, astronauts, pilots, and heroes of all kinds. He drew comics about them. His schoolmates considered him to be a geek and made fun of him. Tom went into acting and became a very successful leading man getting to portray all of his fantasies.

Sublimation

Your friend's dog died last month, but she still leaves food out for the dog each day and insists that Rover is still alive.

Denial

Your physician's tells you correctly that you have cancer, but you still seek a second opinion.

Denial

Your vision has gotten so bad that you can't read the road signs when you drive, but you are adamant that you don't need glasses yet.

Denial

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