Term
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Definition
| by actions rather than reflections or feelings. Includes behavior arising both within and outside the transference relationship. Defensive acting out is not just "bad behavior", rather it requires evidence that the behavior is related to emotional conflicts/stressors. |
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Term
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Definition
| by turning to others for help or support. This involves sharing problems with others but does not imply trying to make someone else responsible for them. Healthy social support. |
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Term
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Definition
| by dedication to meeting the others' needs. Unlike the self-sacrifice sometimes characteristic of reaction formation, the individual receives gratification either vicariously or from the response of others. Can be healthy. |
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Term
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Definition
| by experiencing emotional reactions in advance of, or anticipating consequences of, possible future events and considering realistic, alternative responses or solutions. Preparation. |
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Term
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Definition
| by excessive daydreaming as a substitute for human relationships, more effective action, or problem solving. |
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Term
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Definition
| by refusing to acknowledge some painful aspect of external reality or subjective experience that would be apparent to others. The term psychotic denial is used when there is gross impairment in reality testing. Immature. |
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Term
| Devaluation (changing value/quality) |
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Definition
| by attributing exaggerated negative qualities to self or others. |
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Term
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Definition
| by attributing exaggerated positive qualities to others. |
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Term
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Definition
| by unconsciously transferring a feeling about, or a response to, one object onto another (usually less threatening) substitute object. (punching bag, pillow, pet animal). |
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Term
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Definition
| with a breakdown in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, perception of self or the environment, or sensory/motor behavior. Pervasive; split something in self from something else; can dissociate from present or past. |
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Term
| Isolation of affect (dissociation) |
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Definition
| by the separation of ideas from the feelings originally associated with them. The individual loses touch with the feelings associated with a given idea (e.g., a traumatic event) while remaining aware of the cognitive elements of it (e.g., descriptive details). Ie. explaining a traumatic event with incongruent affect. |
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Term
| Intellectualization (dissociation) |
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Definition
| by the excessive use of abstract thinking or the making of generalizations to control or minimize disturbing feelings. |
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Term
| Help-rejecting complaining |
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Definition
| by complaining or making repetitious requests for help that disguise covert feelings of hostility or reproach toward others, which are then expressed by rejecting the suggestions, advice, or help that others offer. The complaints or requests may involve physical or psychological symptoms or life problems. |
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Term
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Definition
| by emphasizing the amusing or ironic aspects of the conflict or stressor. |
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Term
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Definition
| by feeling or acting as if he or she possesses special powers or abilities and is superior to others. |
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Term
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Definition
| by indirectly and unassertively expressing aggression toward others. There is a facade of overt compliance masking covert resistance, resentment, or hostility. Passive aggression often occurs in response to demands for independent action or performance or the lack of gratification of dependent wishes but may be adaptive for individuals in subordinate positions who have no other way to express assertiveness more overtly. "I don't get mad, I get even". |
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Term
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Definition
| by falsely attributing to another his or her own unacceptable feelings, impulses, or thoughts. |
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Term
| Projective identification |
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Definition
| similar to projection, but individual does not fully disavow what is projected. Instead, the individual remains aware of his or her own affects or impulses but misattributes them as justifiable reactions to the other person. 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. (Frequent in BPD). |
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Term
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Definition
| by concealing the true motivations for his or her own thoughts, actions, or feelings through the elaboration of reassuring or self-serving but incorrect explanations. |
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Term
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Definition
| by substituting behavior, thoughts, or feelings that are diametrically opposed to his or her own unacceptable thoughts or feelings (this usually occurs in conjunction with their repression). Act extreme opposite to feelings. |
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Term
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Definition
| by unconsciously expelling disturbing wishes, thoughts, or experiences from conscious awareness. The feeling component may remain conscious, detached from its associated ideas. (Always defense mech.) |
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Term
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Definition
| by intentionally avoiding thinking about disturbing problems, wishes, feelings, or experiences. |
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Term
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Definition
| by expressing his or her feelings and thoughts directly in a way that is not coercive or manipulative. |
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Term
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Definition
| by reflecting on his or her own thoughts, feelings, motivation, and behavior, and responding appropriately. |
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Term
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Definition
| by compartmentalizing opposite affect states and failing to integrate the positive and negative qualities of the self or others into cohesive images. Because ambivalent affects cannot be experienced simultaneously, more balanced views and expectations of self or others are excluded from emotional awareness. Self and object images tend to alternate between polar opposites: exclusively loving, powerful, worthy, nurturant, and kind—or exclusively bad, hateful, angry, destructive, rejecting, or worthless. All good or all bad. |
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Term
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Definition
| by channeling potentially maladaptive feelings or impulses into socially acceptable behavior (e.g., contact sports to channel angry impulses). |
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Term
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Definition
| by words or behavior designed to negate or to make amends symbolically for unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or actions. |
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