Some thoughts on psychological defences.

When we think of the word defence, we perhaps picture something like a shield in battle, a sea wall, a battalion of soldiers, a blocking motion with the arms, the shell of a turtle or the skin that covers our bodies. 

We can all picture a physical defence, but a psychological defence is much harder to imagine. As we can’t picture it, we have to conceptualise it. We have to experience it as an idea or if possible, it being “like” something. This isn’t just because the "psychological" is immaterial, but because it’s rarely if ever in one state, one dimension or even in one place. 

The mind is so complex and difficult to define, describe or visualise, and psychological defences tend to be far more complex and indeed complicated in nature and in operation, than they might be in the physical world. 

Psychological defences can simply be what we do to protect ourselves psychologically. They can also become part of the way are in the world - a way of being - in that they can form what we know to be our personalities. That is to say, defences can comprise the parts of ourselves that we wish to retain, like our eye colour or the shape of our face.

We only really want to question our defences when they impair us. When they get in the way of connecting with the world, with others; achieving our goals or in our strivings, like making a speech or finding a partner. 

Defences only tend to appear when we feel too close or too far away too something or someone. We can generally tolerate a certain distance, a distance that is uniquely personal to each of us. But when we are too close or too far away, defences become activated. The something could be something outside of ourselves or a thought or feeling inside ourselves. The someone, could be someone in the flesh, or the idea of someone in our minds

In psychoanalytic thinking defences are primarily mustered to defend our Egos. The part of us that connects with the world in the day to day. The part of us we deploy to turn-up, as it were. The part we might call our consciousness, our voice, our-selves. We also comprise other parts. Our Super-Ego for example is the voice in us that speaks through us, that guides our morals or views, like the voice of society, authority figures, elders or parents. Finally we retain innate drives, or our ID which, strives to be heard, like our need for nourishment, love, sex, company and for life itself. The Ego's job is to negotiate how we present in the world in compunction with the strivings of the Super-Ego and ID. This, in psychoanalytic language, is the structural model of the mind. 

So, how can we think about all this? Here are some common and more complex defences that arise in the therapeutic encounter, where inevitably you come close to someone (literally and symbolically) and indeed once close, then, move away. 

Disclaimer: The material provided in this post is for informational purposes only and not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any illness in readers. The information should not replace personalised care from your provider or formal supervision if you’re a practitioner or student.