Psychodynamic Coaching – Defense Mechanisms
Written by: Awaz Ahmed, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The Ego and Super-Ego play roles in all three levels of consciousness—the conscious, preconscious and unconscious. The Id is limited to the unconscious. Human behavior is primarily influenced by the unconscious mind—similar to an iceberg, the part of the mind that isn’t seen. Our emotions, motivations, and decisions are all influenced by our prior experiences, which are stored in the unconscious. Therefore, oftentimes in situations, different defense mechanisms are displayed that cause psychological distress such as:
Suppression: Try to hide feelings.
Repression: Avoid the topic.
Regression: Immature behavior to vent out & deal with things.
Displacement: Redirect your emotions. Negative emotions moved somewhere.
Projection: When you accuse someone or a group of having your same thoughts.
Denial: Rejecting thoughts or feelings.
Rationalization: Coming up with different explanations.
How to help understand unconscious drivers in a situation?
Two Techniques:
Free association-
Express thoughts exactly as they come into mind, no matter how embarrassing.
Note: Ego will attempt to censor this but freethinking allows unconscious to come through.
Free writing-
Write down your thoughts.
Note: Once thoughts are written down, the mind makes more space.
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Awaz Ahmed, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Awaz Ahmed is a Business Psychologist and Coach, helping organizations and individuals in the workplace by encouraging and facilitating clients in a range of professional and personal areas. In addition, she has worked internationally and is the founder of aweology, a company platform of Business Psychologists and professional coaches. With an MSc in Business Psychology and coaching Awaz Ahmed, is also a certified emotional intelligence coach, NLP practitioner, certified 70+ hours of ICF coaching training, member of the British Psychology Society, American Psychology Association, Society for Industrial and organizational psychology and currently studying her Ph.D. in Business Psychology. Through her extensive experience and education in Business Psychology, she is highly skilled and passionate about research, psychometrics, assessments, training, development, recruitment, and coaching.
