"Joseph Fernando provides the first in-depth exploration and up-to-date revision of the psychoanalytic theory of defenses since Anna Freud's 1936 classic, The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense. The workings of three basic forms of defense - repression, denial, and post-traumatic defenses - are clearly described and illustrated with examples from Dr. Fernando's clinical practice, and new concepts including the zero process, contrast defenses, and compound defenses are introduced." --Book Jacket.

What causes clients in therapy to resist change? What mechanisms and devices do they use to defend against therapeutic progress? How can a therapist identify and work with such defenses in their clients? Understanding defense mechanisms is essential to understanding clients, managing resistance, clarifying conflicted behavior, and engendering more adaptive functioning. In Defense Mechanisms in the Counseling Process, author Arthur J. Clark discusses various specific defense mechanisms that arise in the course of working with a client in counseling. He presents each mechanismÆs theoretical origins, psychopathology, and definitionsùand then the methods (organized according to the three-stage model of the counseling process) for "processing" it through discrete stages. Extensive examples throughout the book from diverse populations illustrate the defense mechanisms themselves, as well as the therapeutic change that can result in spite of them. He also provides an integrative case example, demonstrating the changes in clientsÆ defenses through the counseling process. Combining a theoretical and practical perspective, Defense Mechanisms in the Counseling Process is ideally suited for professionals and academics in clinical and counseling psychology, psychology, social work and group work.

Human cognitive processes and defense mechanisms, as described in psychoanalysis, bring about new notions and paradigms for artificial intelligence systems. One key reason is that the human cognitive processes and defense mechanisms in question can accomplish conflict detection functionalities, filter functionalities, and other system stabilizing tasks within artificial intelligence systems. Yet artificial cognitive architectures lack the capability to analyze complex situations as well as the universal competencies needed to orientate themselves in complex environments in various domains. Psychoanalytic Defense Mechanisms in Cognitive Multi-Agent Systems addresses this dilemma by exploring how to describe, model, and implement psychoanalytic defense mechanisms in the course of a project that provides a functional model of the human mind. With discussions focusing on the development of a mathematical description for the implementation of conflict detection, the activation and selection of defense mechanisms, and the processing of defense mechanisms, Psychoanalytic Defense Mechanisms in Cognitive Multi-Agent Systems describes the decisive points for the application of defense mechanisms in artificial intelligence. Formulae that treat defense mechanisms as transformations are also provided. Interdisciplinary cooperation between the scientific fields of psychoanalysis and artificial intelligence is highlighted as the foundation of new research findings throughout the book. Innovative and exciting, this book will be of great interest to academics, researchers, and postgraduates in the fields of cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and psychoanalysis.

What is the scientific status and the "truth value" of the concept of defense mechanisms? Among contemporary psychologists, three types of answers to this question may be expected. Some would wholeheartedly endorse the theoretical, clinical, and research value of this notion; others would reject it outright. Between these two extremes, a large number of observers, perhaps the majority, would suspend their judgment. Their attitude, compounded of hope and doubt, would capitalize on defense as an interesting and promising concept. At the same time, these psy chologists would express skepticism and disappointment over its clinical limitations, theoretical ambiguity, and research failures. The present volume is primarily addressed to the audience of hopeful skeptics-those who have not given up on the notion of defense, yet have been frustrated by the difficulties of incorporating it into the modern, streamlined structure of psychology. To this end, we have brought together theoretical and empirical contributions germane to defense together with reports about their applications to clinical and personality assessment, especially in relation to psychopathology, psychosomatics, and psycho therapeutic intervention.

Reflective Practice has become established as an essential feature of practice in psychotherapy and counselling in the UK, Europe, USA and some other parts of the world. However, the writing on reflective practice is arguably fragmented and scattered, and much of it is highly theoretical and abstract. This book draws together conceptual and ethical issues regarding reflective practice, including the meaning and development of the orientation. More importantly, it connects theory to day-to-day practice in psychotherapy and counselling, addressing issues such as: What does reflective practice look like, in practice? How do we develop the skills in carrying it out? What ways does it assist practice? The book offers an exploration of reflective practice within different models of psychotherapy and counselling: CBT, psycho-dynamic and narrative, systemic family therapy, narrative and community approaches. Throughout, it employs a range of illustrations from a variety of clinical contexts to illustrate reflective practice in action. These include work with; children and families, adult mental health, trauma and abuse, learning disability, youth offending and bereavement and loss. The mix of theoretical background along with practical examples and exercises will be key for students and practioners in the fields of psychotherapy and counselling. The book will be a spur to readers to challenge dominant assumptions and modes of clinical practice and help them fulfil the compulsory requirement for a reflective practice element in their training.

The book is focused on defense mechanisms as theoretical constructs as well as the possibilities of their empirical registration by different methods, and the application of these constructs in different fields of psychology with special regard to concurrent and predictive validity. It is argued that defense mechanisms are in many ways to be seen as integrative constructs, not necessarily restricted to psychoanalytic theory and that the potential fields of their application have a wide ranging scope, comprising many fields of psychology. Consequently empirical studies are presented from the fields of clinical and personality psychology, psychotherapy research and psychosomatic phenomena and diseases. Methodological questions have a heavy weight in most of these studies. - Provides coverage of relevant literature - Covers different fields of application - Attempts an integration of the contstruct of defense mechanisms into mainstream psychology - Provides explanations of the theoretical basis of the construct of defense mechanisms

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.