Ego Mechanisms of Defense: A Guide for Clinicians and Researchers

by George E. Vaillant

By summarizing the empirical studies, proposing a universal language of defense mechanisms, and demonstrating how various assessment methods can be used in diagnosis, case formulation, and treatment, Dr. Vaillant and an interdisciplinary group of contributors provide the groundwork for clinical practice as well as future research in the field.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1992

About the author

George Eman Vaillant, M.D., born 1934, is an American psychiatrist and Professor at Harvard Medical School and Director of Research for the Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Vaillant has spent his research career charting adult development and the recovery process of schizophrenia, heroin addiction, alcoholism, and personality disorder. Through 2003, he spent 30 years as Director of the Study of Adult Development at the Harvard University Health Service. The study has prospectively charted the lives of 824 men and women for over 60 years.

A major focus of his work in the past has been to develop ways of studying defense mechanisms empirically; more recently, he has been interested in successful aging and human happiness.

Villant has received the Foundations Fund Prize for Research in Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric Association, the Strecker Award from The Pennsylvania Hospital, the Burlingame Award from The Institute for Living, and the Jellinek Award for research on alcoholism. In 1995 he received the research prize of the International Psychogeriatric Society.

- summarised from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is must read! A wonderful interpretation of defense mechanisms and their continued relevance in psychotherapy and counselling.

[Gabriel Desjardins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book with some ideas that are a bit outdated but that helps us understand where things come from (ex: acting out being seen as an antisocial defense mechanism only while now we know it is used a lot among people with cluster B personality disorders). The second part is more research and was a bit disappointing to me because I wanted to read about clinical cases. However, the discussion and results parts tell us about the relevance and scientific nature of defense mechanisms