1.

Vaillant's categorization of defense

mechanisms

Level I Pathological/Narcisic defenses

- psychotic denial, delusional projection
Level II - Immature defenses
- fantasy, projection, passive aggression, acting out
Level III - Neurotic defenses
- intellectualization, reaction formation, dissociation, displacement, repression
Level IV - Mature defenses
- humour, sublimation, suppression, altruism, anticipation

2. Pathological/Narcisic defenses

1. Delusional projection
- Delusions about external reality, usually of a persecutory nature.
- Seen in Paranoid Personality
2. Denial
- Refusal to accept external reality because it is too threatening;
- Resolution of emotional conflict and reduction of anxiety by refusing to
perceive

3. Immature defenses

1. Fantasy
- Tendency to retreat into fantasy
2. Acting out
- Behavioral or emotional outburst without conscious awareness
- Direct expression of an unconscious wish or impulse in action
3. Passive aggressive
- Expressed indirectly or passively, often through procrastination.
4. Regression
- Most Immature
- Older person acting as a child
- Ever since my divorce, my 5-year-old has begun to wet the bed
Seen as socially undesirable, in that they are immature, difficult to deal with
and seriously out of touch with reality

4. Neurotic defenses

1. Repression
- An idea or feeling is withheld from consciousness ( unconscious forgetting)
- Unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts
- I do not remember having had a dog
2. Displacement
- Displacement is the redirection of an impulse (usually aggression) onto a
powerless substitute target
- My husband kicked the dog every time we had an argument

3. Rationalization
- Rational explanations used to justify unacceptable attitudes or behaviors
- I did not pass the test because it was very difficult
4. Intellectualization
- Excessive use of intellectual processes to avoid affective experience
- Overemphasis on thinking
- Used to decrease anxiety

Defense mechanisms