This book is a rich resource that broadens personalunderstanding by examining the origins of childhood misery, subsequent defense formation, and the pervasiveness and destructiveness of the resulting maladaptive, addictive behaviors in adults. Numerous casehistories show people rejecting love and companionship for imagined connections and illusions. The authors point a way toward reversing the damaging process that keeps individuals from experiencing genuine satisfaction.

Integrating theory, research, and applications, this book examines the defense mechanisms and their role in both normal development and psychopathology. It describes how children and adults mobilize specific kinds of defenses to maintain their psychological equilibrium and preserve self-esteem, particularly in situations of trauma or stress.

Why Do I Do That? adapts the basic strategies of psychodynamic psychotherapy to a guided course in self-exploration, highlighting the universal role of defense mechanisms in warding off emotional pain. With easy-to-understand explanations, the first part teaches you about the unconscious mind and the role of psychological defenses in excluding difficult feelings from awareness. Individual chapters in the longer middle section explore the primary defense mechanisms one by one, with exercises to help you identify your own defenses at work. The final part offers guidance for how to "disarm" your defenses and cope more effectively with the unconscious feelings behind them. Psychological defense mechanisms are an inevitable and necessary part of the human experience; but when they become too pervasive or deeply entrenched, they may damage our personal relationships, restrict or distort our emotional lives and prevent us from behaving in ways that promote lasting self-esteem.

Sheets also included in pamphlet: Quick definitions of 101 defenses in approximate order of their first appearance during development -- Defense constellations characteristic of neurosis -- Defense constellations characteristic of borderline and psychosis -- Psychoanalytic diagnostic developmental considerations.

Revised and Updated Second Edition – More Content and Strategies You Can Start Implementing Today! Do you feel like you are just a pawn in someone else’ chess game? Are you tired of being manipulated at every turn? Would you like to be able to detect and discern genuine emotions in others so that you can protect yourself from being emotionally abused and manipulated? Then this is just the book you need. Dark Psychology: The Practical Uses and Best Defenses of Psychological Warfare in Everyday Life helps you understand more than just the basics of human behavior. It takes you on an in-depth journey that explores the darker recesses of the human mind and provides insightful practical steps on how to build up your mental defenses against such. Inside this book, you will discover: Fundamental facts about dark psychology How to recognize and separate truth even when it has been masked masterfully in a web of lies Aspects of your day to day life that makes you vulnerable to the manipulations of others A five-step program to help you break free if ever find yourself a victim How to protect yourself from the influences of dark psychology And much more... If you or any of your loved ones have suffered emotionally or is currently living through a nightmare that is directly related to the inherent dangers of dark psychology, this is a book you want to read. And even if you are simply curious about how dark psychology works and would like to know how to protect yourself, this is a book that breaks down this complex phenomenon in the simplest terms. Dark psychology has always been discussed in hushed tones and there is still so much information out there that has gotten lost in barely understandable psychobabble that leaves you more perplexed than informed. This book does an effective job of demystifying dark psychology and equips you with the knowledge that you can use to protect yourself against it. So, if you’re ready, click “Buy Now” and get ready to change your life!

Based on the idea that the Voice is an internal system of hostile thoughts and attitudes antithetical to the self, the book identifies the characteristics of this phenomenon. Voice Therapy, as developed by Dr. Firestone, is designed to elicit and identify these negative thoughts.

This book provides an in depth guide to Ego Defense Mechanisms and how they play out in life. IFantastic reading for those wanting to develop their understanding of the concept originally made famous by Freud. The book explains each mechanism and provides everyday examples of each. The book is written in easily understood language and set against a backdrop of adult education. It is an essential resource for everyone involved in adult education and for anyone wanting to get a better understanding of how our ego takes charge even when we don't know it has. It is about the lies we tell ourselves to ease the pain we feel. The book explains how much of our adult behaviour maybe as a result of childhood trauma. Those interested in self-help will find much of interest.

Why We Suffer is the amazing story of what mainstream psychology has failed to teach the world. The author, Peter Michaelson, is a former journalist and science writer who has been in private practice as a psychotherapist for more than 25 years. This book reveals how we hide from our awareness--through resistance, denial, and psychological defenses--the existence of a hidden flaw in our psyche. This unconscious, mental-emotional processing dysfunction is a grave danger to each of us personally and to all of us collectively. Through our defense system, we cover up awareness of this inner dysfunction.This flaw in human nature produces irrationality, self-defeat, and negative emotions. It gets the best of us only when we fail to become conscious of it. When we expose it, we begin to remedy the problem. When this flaw no longer contaminates our inner life, we feel, just for starters, our goodness and our value more fully, and we're more respectful of the goodness and value of others.Most of us have problems or challenges we would like to resolve. Collectively, we also have challenging national and worldwide problems that need to be corrected. We may not be up to these challenges if we're not conscious enough of our inner dynamics. Handicapped by a lack of self-knowledge, how can we trust ourselves to avoid conflict and self-defeat? We will fail repeatedly to learn from history.A lot of good ideas are in circulation for making ourselves and the world a better place. But good ideas aren't enough in themselves. This hidden flaw can keep good ideas from being acted on because it compels us, at best, to be indecisive, confused, and prone to dissension. At worst, it produces self-defeat and self-destruction. This negative effect consistently trumps our good ideas and best intentions.This book reveals essential knowledge that humankind has been reluctant to accept. This knowledge involves our hidden, unconscious collusion in producing self-defeating emotions and behaviors. The key to taking charge of our life involves seeing more clearly than ever how our emotional nature is processed within us.

"This book fruitfully serves those looking to apply Ernest Beckerís ideas psychotherapeutically, in individual counseling or in group therapy. A capstone to Robert Firestoneís 50 years of work in psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and psychiatry and to the numerous books written by these authors, Firestone and Catlett show how to apply the themes and implications of the ideas of Ernest Becker in everyday life. Their basic premise is that accepting death is part of developing an affirming and meaningful experience of life. Contributing to the credibility of their presentation is the wealth of clinical evidence and personal experience Firestone and Catlett incorporate." --The Ernest Becker Foundation "[F]ascinating and an enjoyable read....steeped in well researched and relevant psychological and sociological perspectives applicable to all social studies areas..." --Carol Lloyd University of Chichester "Firestone and Catlettís work is a marvelous achievement....This volume is both innovative and intrepid. Firestone and Catlett challenge prevailing psychoanalytic views on death and they demolish many of the accepted canons of thanatology and existential psychology. ...This is required reading for anyone who purports to talk about death." -- Jerry Piven, PhD Author of Death and Delusion: A Freudian Analysis of Mortal Terror "[A] towering synthesis of personal and clinical wisdom about death....with a superb overview of the psychology of death and death anxiety....Dr. Firestone draws on the best of the existential-humanistic as well as the psychoanalytic thinkers to address a flourishing path toward self-realization." -Kirk J. Schneider, PhD Author, Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy and Awakening to Awe (From the Foreword) Firestone and Catlett's groundbreaking volume assists mental health practitioners in helping their clients learn to accept and face their mortality. They describe the many defenses of death anxiety that keep individuals from achieving personal fulfillment, and also suggest methods to cope directly with fears of death; an approach that, ironically, can lead to more satisfaction, more freedom, and a greater appreciation for the gift of life. This book examines the many destructive consequences of death anxiety, including introversion, depression, and withdrawal from life. Throughout the book, the authors demonstrate the importance of achieving what they call life-affirming death awareness. Key topics include: The dawning awareness of death and its impact on the developing child Literal and symbolic defenses against death anxiety Separation theory and "the fantasy bond" Challenging the defenses that interfere with living fully Microsuicide: the death of the spirit Breaking with limiting religious dogma and cultural worldviews With this book, mental health practitioners and their clients will be able to better understand death awareness, overcome the defenses against death anxiety, and ultimately lead richer, more fulfilling lives.

The idea that the human mind-that faculty of the intellect which we use to define and discern the truth-might also be used to deceive itself is not new. The classic orator Demosthenes warned of this possibility in 349 B.C. when he wrote that "Nothing is more easy than to deceive one's self; what a man wishes he generally believes to be true." 1 Even Jean Jacques Rousseau, who suggested the possibility of man as "noble savage," alerts us to this paradox, when he writes "Jamais fa nature ne nous trompe; c'est toujours nous qui nous trompons" ("Nature never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves). 2 But it was Sigmund Freud who placed this idea firmly into the field of psychopathology and then, later, into a general psychological theory. According to Freud, understanding the function of a defense mechanism means not only fathoming the origin of pathological symptoms but also comprehending a model of the mind that includes both conscious and unconscious mental processes. From this initial focus on the general process of defense, Freud and his followers went on to identify various forms this process might take, with the result that today we have a list of 3 more than 37 defense mechanisms described in the literature.