The Processes of Defense: Trauma, Drives, and Reality A New Synthesis

365 Pages·2009·3.029 MB·English

by  Joseph Fernando

The Processes of Defense

The Processes of Defense
Trauma, Drives, and Reality
A New Synthesis
Joseph Fernando, MDCM
JASON ARONSON
Lanham (cid:129) Boulder (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
Published by Jason Aronson
An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2009 by Lexington Books
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fernando, Joseph, 1958-
The processes of defense : trauma, drives, and reality : a new synthesis / Joseph
Fernando.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7657-0729-1 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Defense mechanisms (Psychology) I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Defense Mechanisms. 2. Psychoanalytic Theory. 3. Stress Disorders,
Post-Traumatic—psychology. WM 193 F363p 2009]
RC455.4.D43F47 2009
155.2—dc22
2009044908
(cid:2) ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
To Sue, Jonathan, Kiri, Nicky, and Rosie
With love
“All I was trying to do was to explain defence, but I found myself ex-
plaining something from the very heart of nature.”
—Sigmund Freud, August 16, 1895,
letter to Wilhelm Fleiss (Freud 1954)
(cid:2)
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I: Basic Forms of Defense 7
Chapter 1 Basic Concepts 9
Chapter 2 Repression 27
Chapter 3 Denial 71
Chapter 4 Externalizing and Internalizing Defenses 107
Chapter 5 Trauma 125
Part II: Specific Clinical Problems 171
Chapter 6 Narcissism 173
Chapter 7 Masochism 209
Chapter 8 Perversions 243
Part III: Theory 283
Chapter 9 A General Psychoanalytic Theory 285
vii
viii (cid:2) Contents
Conclusion 321
Glossary 325
References 333
Index 345
About the Author 353
(cid:2)
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the patients who gave permission for their case material
to be used in this book. I would also like to thank Cyril Levitt for all his help,
which included reading every page of the manuscript at least twice, making
many helpful suggestions, and keeping my spirits up with his encouragement
and genuine belief in the value of what I was doing. My thanks go to Sarah
Usher who read and gave valuable advice on portions of the manuscript, and
to Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, for her support and help in finding a publisher.
My mother, Mary Agnes Fernando, and my wife, Sue, both edited the entire
book, and gave me valuable suggestions about making it more readable and
reader friendly.
ix