Episode 16: Denial, Splitting, Projection – The early defense mechanisms

Lives of the Unconscious. A Podcast on Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy

Lives of the Unconscious

Summary: The division head of a company has called an important meeting. All employees are present at the agreed upon time, except for the boss. Only once an employee calls him does he remember the meeting and arrives significantly late. He apologizes cursorily and begins the meeting. In the next few minutes, in front of the assembled team, he criticizes specific employees unusually harshly for their work performance and for their failures until they feel very small and humiliated. What is the function of the boss’ defense? And why is it called an early defense mechanism in psychoanalysis? More on this episode.

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Literature Recommendations:

• Freud, A. (1936/1994). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence. London: Routledge.
• Bion, W. R. (1959). Attacks on linking. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 40, 308–315.
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• Milton, J. (2020). Essential Readings from the Melanie Klein Archives: Original Papers and Critical Reflections. London: Routledge.
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• Vaillant, G. E., Bond, M., & Vaillant, C. O. (1986). An empirically validat-ed hierarchy of defence mechanisms. Archives of General Psychiatry, 73, 786–794.