Defense Mechanisms
Terms
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- The Beltliner
- Hits the partner below the psychologic belt
- Compensation
- Making up for one behavior by stressing another
- Verbal Aggression
- A person attacks another without addressing the original complaint or disregards it inappropriately
- Repression
- Process whereby unwanted desires or impulses are excluded from the consciousness and left to operate in the unconscious
- The Pseudoaccommodator
- Refuses to face up to a conflict by either giving in or pretending nothing is wrong
- The Mind Reader
- Refuses to allow his or her partner to express feelings honestly and goes into an analysis of what the partner "really means"
- The Contract Tyrannizer
- Will not allow relationships to change from the way they once were
- Rationalization
- Attributing actions to rational and credible motives without analyzing underlying methods
- The Subject Changer
- Escapes facing up to aggression by shifting the conversation when it approaches an area of conflict
- The Guiltmaker
- Tries to make his or her partner feel responsible fro causing pain
- Denial
- A state in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality
- The Kitchen Sink Fighter
- Brings up things that are totally off the subject instead of dealing with the issue at hand
- The Avoider
- Refuses to fight; keeps from facing the problem at hand
- The Trivial Tyrannizer
- Does things that will bother the partner instead of honestly sharing his or her own resentments
- Displacement
- The redirection of an emotion or impulse from its original object, such as an idea or person, to anoher object
- The Withholder
- Punishes the partner by holding something back, building up greater resentment
- The Distracter
- Attacks other parts of his or her partner's life rather than expressing feelings of dissatisfaction
- Sarcasm
- A biting edge added to words that a person states with the intent to cause pain or anger
- The Crisis Tickler
- Brings what is bothering him or her almost to the surface but never quite expresses true feelings
- The Gunnysacker
- Does not immediately respond to anger. Directs pent-up frustrations and aggression on the unsuspecting partner
- The Blamer
- More interested in finding fault than in resolving a conflict
- Apathy
- A lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern
- Regression
- The reversion to an earlier mental or behavioral level.
- The Trapper
- Sets up desired behavior, then attacks that behavior once it manifests
- The Benedict Arnold
- Gets back at partners by sabotage, failing to defend them and encouraging ridicule to
- Physical avoidance
- Avoidance of any representation of a painful event
- The Joker
- Kids around when the partner wants to be serious, instead of expressing true feelings
- Projection
- The attribution of one's own ideas, feelings, or attitudes to other people or to objects